


The Two Arts That Bring You Together

by Kpala



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Give Lapis a grammy, Harassment, I love staying up at 3 am, I'm Bad At Tagging, Minor Selective Mutism, Peridot the pianist, References from the show, Sexual and Inappropriate Humor, Trust Issues, ill add more tags soon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-07-26 18:58:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7586134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kpala/pseuds/Kpala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peridot, a highschool senior, is pressured into participating in a musical theatre play by her mother (who has the highest standards ever).</p><p>Only one thing stands in the way of the young pianist, and that's a moral grade FAR below average. This forces her to resort to tutoring--and socializing is definitely not her strong suit.</p><p>She underestimates the girl she is tutoring, soon finding herself growing interest in the girl. What Peridot doesn't know, is the drama she is going to receive for being involved with the blue haired "actor".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Intro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so...this chapter is just a little intro with everything that's gonna be happening henceforth.  
> This story is actually related to my personal experiences, with me playing the violin.  
> I'll do my best to keep this story going, along with another one I'm currently working on.
> 
> This story will be a tad more serious with characters, so don't expect full-on comedy.  
> Please remember to give contructive critics because I WANT to be become better. Thanks.  
> -Kpala

"Excuse me, but you're wrong." The blonde teenager held the report card in the air in her hand and let her finger trail down the list of A's and A-'s. She peeked an eye behind the paper and gave the teacher a look.

"My grade is perfectly fine, and above average." She said with cockiness. Mr.Universe cleared his throat and pointed a finger at the very bottom of the crowded paper. D.

Peridot nearly crumpled up the paper in anger, but instead, she took a deep exhale like what they taught her in anger management.

"This?" She pointed at the low grade roughly. "This is why I can't be involved with Rose Quartz's play?" She slammed the paper on the teacher's desk and gave him a look. 

"Look Peridot, this grade--don't get me wrong but its the most important one this semester." He tried to compromise with the blonde.

"You got a D in 'cooperation' and 'helping others' for a reason." He added. Peridot furrowed her eyebrows and grabbed the paper to look at it again.

"This is stupid." She slapped on the paper with the back of her hand, making Mr.Universe flinch.

"Cooperation and 'help' should  _not_ effect my hobbies outside of school! Especially with me and the piano." She let out a deep sigh and sat on the school chair she pulled out in front of his desk. 

"Look I understand this is all silly, but rules are rules." He folded his hands on the desk and smiled nervously at the girl who wore an irritated scowl. He quickly adjusted his smile into a straight line when Peridot opened her mouth to speak.

"You  _know_ I need to play the piano at the event. I promised Pearl I would be there on practices--and you know she hates flakers." She immediately thought of the dancer, making her description pop in her mind. The slim and tall girl with bright blue eyes and ginger hair looks graceful and is a wondrous beauty. But once you get to know Pearl, she's a salty bird.

"Yeah..I know how she gets on about that kind of stuff. But I can't change your grade just like that." He combed his sausage fingers through his balding lion-like hair. Peridot groaned and tapped her fingers on the desk in synchronization. 

"Greg, you _need_ to let me perform! This is the first time Rose is gonna hold a musical play for the seniors!" She gripped her chest tightly, letting her fingers grab hold of the flannel shirt.

"This is gonna be out last year here--my last year here!" She whined dramatically, watching the middle-aged man's face slowly changed. She felt a devilish grin approach her face. He shook his head.

"They're just gonna have to find a different pianist I guess. Oh! Rose can play a bit, right?" He lifted a finger up and chuckled. Peridot frowned and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Rose can't play for shit, you know that Greg." She mumbled quietly under hear breath--and was surprised when he heard her.

"Hey! Thats my wife you're talking about!" He sounded offended, but he wasn't mad. Greg rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

"I guess you're right about the bad piano playing part." He smirked a bit, looking at the slightly crumpled report card on his desk. Peridot let her eyes glance around the classroom. The empty boring classroom.

"I see that this play Rose is holding for you seniors is important to you." He rose his attention up to the blonde. She perked up with a smirk--it worked. 

"So...lets make a deal." Greg held the report card in his calloused hand--pointing at the smudged letter D right next to the word 'Cooperation.'

Peridot never interacted with her classmates--nor did she want to. They were all just a bunch of stupid kids that were the same age as her, and in the same rooms as her. The most stupid would be her best friend Jasper, who would stick around her whenever she got bored. Peridot would also hang out with the group she called 'clods' during lunch. Even if she never liked people in general, she was surprised the grade that tracked it was low. Low for a reason, at least.

"Since this is obviously below average, you can do some stuff to make up for the points." He snapped his fingers and let the paper drift back onto the wooden table. She watched it slowly fall before looking back at the man with a smile. She rose an eyebrow at him before adjusting the glasses on her nose.

"What do I have to do, exactly?" 

"Well, the only way is to tutor or assist a struggling student with their academics. That should bring the grade up to an average before the little play you have to attend to." He pointed to a poster saying 'Help each other out, even when in doubt'. Peridot cringed at the very words imprinted on the poster and frowned.

"You mean the ones like Jasper?" She pointed her thumb to the door on the other side of the room. Jasper was waiting for her to finish her "important" discussion with the teacher. The teacher who controls all the fucking points in her grade.

Greg chuckled and shook his head. "Jasper's been doing fine believe it or not."

He opened a file to show a specific one with the name 'Jasper Davis' imprinted on the very top of the page. Peridot's mouth hang ajar--amazed by the very average grades Jasper has held throughout the year. She nodded in a way that showed she was impressed with Jasper not failing more than 3 classes. She failed English and Science.

"Anyways, Jasper is out of the list of kids who need turtoring." He opened the file cabinet to return the paper.

"Looks like I got one in stock for you." He searched the messy compartment, grumbling things under his breath. He pulled out a thin paper and placed it on the table. Greg turned it around to let the blonde see the grades.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Peridot hysterically busted out laughter and pinched the bridge of her nose. She took a couple heaves of breaths before clearing her throat. Greg was looking at her in an uncomfortable way, he tilted his head.

"W-What's so funny." He chuckled to make it casual. Peridot had a smirk on her face and pointed at the rows of F's and D's and more F's. Greg looked back up to see the girl grinning at the page.

"Her grades?" Greg did not understand. At all.

Peridot rolled her eyes and chuckled a bit. "Who is this? The only good grade they have is drama." She pointed at the bottom part of the paper. A single A+.

"Well, thats because they're into acting and drama class." He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "Listen Peridot, you really shouldn't laugh at other people's grades. Especially if they're having a hard time with it."

Peridot bit her lip and looked up at the slightly stained ceiling. All that could be heard was the nonstop buzzing of electricity through the classroom light bars. One in particular, flashed on and off once in a while. 

"Anyway, you should help this girl, she really needs it. Even if she refuses, just tell her you need it for your grade." Greg took glances at the report card and Peridot. The teenager darted her eyes around the room and thought about what she was about to get involved with.

She would have to look after some stupid and dumb girl, who would probably just get in her way. Peridot leaned back in her seat and let her forearms rest on the armrests.

"Is this  _really_ the only way to bring that grade up?" She whined and tapped her feet in impatience.

"Yup. Just agree to do the tutoring and get it over with."

"Fine." She said through her teeth. Greg could obviously see the girl did not want to do anything with helping other out. Or others in general.

"Great! I'll set up a little tutor session tomorrow after school. I'll be watching you two to make sure you don't wreck up my classroom." He stood up abruptly, startling the blonde. Greg walked over to the file cabinet on the other side of the room and started digging in it.

"So thats it? We're done?" The blonde stood up from the chair as her knees popped; she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her denim jeans.

"Yeah sure. Just remember about tomorrow." He pulled out a guitar from the cabinet and wrapped the strap around his body. "I finally found this baby." He strummed the strings, making a melody from the instrument.

"Ooookaaayyy..." She said slowly, walking towards the classroom door to exit. She was bewildered by the sudden act of Greg taking a guitar from his cabinet for no reason at all. 

"Oh! And tell Rose I love her when you see her!" He called out to the blonde. She made a disgusted face when she turned her heel around to walk back out the door. _They love eachother so much, its sickening._  

 The first thing she saw around the corner of the wall was a tall, bulky, dark woman with vitiligo splattered all over her. The two colors maintained a tiger-ish look on her face. She wore a white t-shirt and some ripped jeans. Her hair was similiar to Greg's--the only differences being was that she wasn't balding and her hair was a nice silver.

"That took forever." The six footer mumbled under her deep exhale and stuffed her phone in her pocket. She straightened her t-shirt from wrinkles before looking at the shorter girl. "How'd it go? Are you're grades okay"

"They're fine." Peridot walked side by side with her friend down the wide hallways. "I just need to make up a couple points to be able to perform."

Jasper sputtered out laughter, making the blonde turn to her. Peridot narrowed her eyes at the chuckling woman. "What." She said rather sharply. 

"Oh wow. What class did you have that put you with such a low grade." She gestured her meaty hands in a whirl. The shorter girl gulped and glanced her eyes at the other girl and at the floor.

Well...its like...cooperation and talking to other students." She mumbled vey very softly, barely inaudible to an ant.

Somehow, for some fucking reason, Jasper heard the pathetic statment. She broke out in hysterical laughter, drawing attention from students walking by. The two stood there in the hallway with Jasper laughing her ass off. Meanwhile, Peridot just looked at her with shame.

"Woooow, thats pretty sad." The dark girl snorted, letting her hand rest on Peridot's shoulder.

"Are you gonna tell Rose about how you can't make any friends?" She was  _really really_ trying to get on her friend's nerves. The blonde could already feel her blood boiling in anger from her friends stupidness.

"Yes, I will tell her how one stupid grade is below average. Along with how I can bring it up by turtoring some chick." Peridot frowned at the idea of having to tutor after school. She could do so many things with her life  _other_ than assisting.

"I'm pretty suprised that a brat with a rotten attitude like you could be a pianist." The bulky girl's words made Peridot want to punch her in the nose. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Thats wrong.

"I'm pretty suprised that a brute like you is into My Little Pony." The shorter girl snickered with a cheeky grin on her lips. Jasper blushed in embarrassment and crossed her arms. 

"Im serious. Why would your mom enroll you in piano lessons if you just gonna sit in your room and play video games all day." Jasper imitated playing with a game controller, flicking her thumbs upwards and her index fingers scrunching down. Peridot rolled her eyes and jogged down the stairs as Jasper followed.

"You've know me for 5 years and you  _still_ don't know that my mother pretty much forced me when I was little. I didn't have a choice!" Peridot looked down at the cracked floor. Her mind nearly snapped in half. Her mother. Peridot ran her fingers through her hair and gripped on the short blonde locks.

"Oh shit--my mother!" Peridot stopped walking in the middle of the hallway and cursed to herself. Japser, being the only one hearing, turned around to look back at the distressed girl. 

"What?" 

"My mother! She's gonna kill me if I don't perform in that play! She already talked to Rose about it!." Peridot was panicking. Her eyes glanced around the nearly empty hallway--seeing only some guy alseep in the corner. She quickly walked over to a metal bench right next to a water fountain and sat down. She took a couple of quick breaths to calm herself down from everything that was happening.

"I don't see how this is a big deal, Peri. Just tell her that you're grade got low, and that you gotta do whatever you do after school." Jasper gestured her hands in several ways. Peridot looked up at her and narrowed her eyes.

" _Do you know_ what she's going to do to me if she finds out I can't perform because of my grade?! Jasper you're acting like you never met her before!" Peridot bounced her leg inpatiently, making her whole body bounce. The hefty girl shrugged and sat right next to her, taking up most of the bench and squishing Peridot.

"You never invite me to your house, but I did see her at the gas station." Jasper rubbed her eyebrow and put her hands behind her head.

"The gas station? She almost never gets gas herself. She sends Randolf to fill the cars up." Peridot was surprised by Japser's first encounter with her mother.

"Who the hell is Randolf?" Jasper laughed.

"Jasper did you forget my mother is like a bazillionaire?! She literally owns a dozen of butlers and maids." Peridot threw her arms abruptly in the air, making them fall back down limp in her lap. 

"Oh yea...she owns that tobacco making company!" Jasper snapped her finger. "Was it--it's called D-bacco right?" Jasper snorted before chuckling.

"I heard that the way she handles the company is  _pretty_ strict." The bigger girl added. Peridot jumped up from her seat to stand up in front of Jasper.

" _EXACTLY!_ So if SHE were to find out about this stupid mess-" Peridot waved her fingers in the air in frustration. "-I'd be a dead nerd."

Jasper sat there in silence for a while, looking at her shoes.

"Who says she would find out?" She looked up at the pacing Peridot, giving a smirk.

"What?"

"You don't  _have_ to tell her your grade went down, or how you can't be in that stupid play. Just....keep it secret." Jasper whispered to Peridot, who was completely blank on the idea.

"Jasper, my mother is smarter than that." She crossed her arms and looked elsewhere.

"She would be asking questions like 'Aren't you supposed to be practicing?'- or 'Where have you been? You're curfew is 30 minutes after school." She mimicked her mother's grumpy and raspy voice, making a wrinkled face.

"Have you ever heard of lying?" Jasper asked her with a dumb tone. 

"Yes, and the last time I did it I already knew its a bad thing to do." Peridot frowned and poked the inside of her cheek with her tounge.

"Well...it's not lying if you tell her you're just helping out a friend after school!" The bigger girl stood up and walked over to Peridot. "You could just tell her you're helping  _me_ out!"

"First of all, my mom hates you. Second, you don't really need help with anything since your grades are above average." The blonde lifted her finger to point at the frowning Jasper. "But I guess I could lie about something else."

"Great! It's all settled, no more talking about this ever again. Lets just go eat lunch now--since you dragged me here during break. " Jasper said the last part through her teeth. She started shoving  Peridot to the double doors that led to the canteen. 

"By the way, who  _are_ you gonna be tutoring?" She asked, continuing to push the non-moving girl. Peridot shrugged.

"What do you mean you don't know? Didn't Greg tell you their name at least?" She stopped walking and crossed her vitiligo splattered arms. Peridot shrugged again and pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose.

"He just told me to come after school tomorrow to help a failing idiot." She deadpans. They stood right next to the bathroom doors that were flooding with stench. Their noses burned from thr horrific smells, so the continued a steady pace towards the canteen.

"I'm surprised that idiot isn't me. Or that I got a steady grade." She wheezed out from a chuckle, nudging Peridot with her elbow. The blonde hissed at her before hearing talking and whispers around the corner.

"Just keep walking." Jasper mumbled, looking at Peridot from the corner of her eye. The two walked past Emerald and some chick making out in the corner. Jasper and Peridot both put on a straight face to keep themselves from scowling and barking at the teenage boy.

"Hey! Tiger and Leggy! How're ya!" Emerald spoke to the girls that had their backs turned. His voice was a toxic waste splattered with crap and venom. Peridot hated him. She looked at him in the corner of her eye and looked back at Jasper. She was scowling at the annoying dickhead.

"Can't you two hear me? Or did you get another disability with the ones you already have?" Emerald cackled out of his thin lips. This made Jasper turn around completely and walk towards him. Peridot tugged on her arm, telling her to leave it be. 

Jasper gave Emerald another stink eye before ripping her arm away from Peridot and stomping her way to the canteen. The blonde watched her bust the double doors open with her shoulders and vanish with the closing behind her. Peridot bit her lip and furrowed her eyesbrows--turning to the green haired mess.

His eyes were the same green as hers, making Peridot sick she had something in common with him. His eyes were naturally narrow with bushy eyebrows above them. His ears had small gauges in them and piercings in his cartilages. That devilish grin made Peridot want to puke on him. And the girl beside him, made Peridot feel bad she would have to put up with him.

"So..Leggy, haven't seen you since Junior year." Emerald stuffed his pale hands into his pockets and slouched over. He slowly approached the blonde with a grin that could scare Satan. But it didn't scare Peridot. She already knew this happened to her before.

He intimidated her by puffing his chest. He was only a tad bit taller than Peridot, making him about six flat.

"Don't call me that, dickhead." She mumbled, her eyes lingered to the girl behind him. His 'girlfriend' didn't look like a crackhead or anything Emerald dated before. Her face had a stoic and blank expression, as she watched her 'boyfriend' bully this nerd,

"Why? Leggy suits you just fine." He crouched down, being half the size than he already was. Peridot backed up, but he grabbed onto her shin.

"Lemme go, you asshole!" She managed to scramble he leg out of his grip and kick him right in the face. 

"Ouch, not bad for a fake one," Emerald had one eye closed and rubbed the cheek that Peridot kicked with her heel. She was now on the floor on her butt--fallen down because of her bad balance. 

"Creep." Peridot pushed herself up from the ground using her hands. She attemtped to run away, but no. He had her, again.

"Come on...we can have some fun if you just-" Emerald tightened his grip on the blonde's wrist, making her wince from the slight pain he inflicted. She pulled away again and pushed him. He fell right onto the floor--sitting in the same position she was in before.

_Opportunity._

 She fled the hallways to dash through the double doors. With a loud bang, the doors flew open, hitting the walls. No attention was drawn to her however--the canteen being so loud and crowded. She looked around, her head darting in all possible directions, to look for a bulky teen over six feet. That's what made Jasper stand out the most. 

"Hey P-dot!" A faint voice caught the girl's attention. She turned her head to the right to see a group of clods sitting at their normal table. Peridot walked over to the round table with seats circling it. Perfect for poker.

"Jasper came in here earlier, but she went to use the bathroom." Pearl sat neatly next to Garnet. "Where have you been?"

"I just had to speak to Greg, you know, about the whole musical play thing." Peridot sighed and sat herself next to Amethyst. The latina greeted her with a noogie, as the blonde grumbled and struggled out of it.

"Don't tell me you can't play, nobody else in this damn school knows how!" Pearl over dramatically cried out, putting her head in her hands. Peridot rose her finger to speak.

"And no Peridot, Rose WILL NOT be playing the pieces." The ginger sat up straight and folded her hands.

The tall dark woman beside her had a straight and stoic expression.

"I have to tutor to get my grades up, Pearl. Don't worry about it, I got it all under control." Peridot lied. Nothing was in control. Her mentality, social life, personal life, and life in general was chaotic.

"Good." Garnet finally spoke, her hair bounced up. She gave the blonde a thumbs up. Classic Garnet.

"What's the play gonna be about anyway?" Amethyst joined in, her mouth full of french fries. She continued to chew on them while Pearl rubbed her chin.

"Well, Rose said something about'inspired by her personal experience'. Its most likely going to be about Greg." She mumbled, looking elsewhere on the side of her eyes. 

"We have everything and everyone planned out, right?" Peridot tapped the red table with her nails. She wasn't informed who would play who in this little musical. All she knew was that it was only for seniors to be a part in, and that she was supposed to be involved.

"You don't need to worry about that, everything is fine." Pearl gestured her hands in a flicking motion. "Just....make sure you can play for next week's rehearsal."

A couple minutes passed before something eventful happened, and that was just Jasper coming back from the "bathroom". The hefty girl sat down right next to Peridot, grunting to greet the rest. Peridot sighed and looked at Jasper with a frown.

"What did you do this time?" She asked with deadpan as her jaw rested on the palm of her hand. Jasper smirked and pulled out a finished roll of toilet paper behind her back. Peridot's eyes dilated at this.

"You didn't!" Peridot laughed out, slamming her hands on the table. This drew the attention from the rest of the group.

"What did she do!?" Amethyst squealed in her seat, adding more fries to her mouth.

"I trashed that kid Emerald's car in the parking lot." Jasper snickered with a wink. The rest of the group started giggling and snorting, but it died out abruptly.

"You what!?" Emerald grabbed the collar of Jasper's white tee, and made her face his hideous face. Emerald was furious, his eyes glaring with hell in them. Jasper was not at all intimidated.

Instead, she stood up to face the shorter teen. He gulped, but he returned to his aggressive expression. He let go of the collar, realizing that Jasper was too tall for that bullying technique to work. Jasper smirked and held the brown toilet paper roll right in front of his dirty scowl.

"I. TRASHED. YOUR. CRUSTY.DUSTY. CAR." The bigger girl grinned and threw the roll at Emerald's chest. It bounced off and rolled on the ground. His scowl grew bigger and scarier, his eyebrows twitched.

"Why you freak! And you're little disabled buddy too!" He pushed his finger against the chest of the bigger girl, but she wasn't intimidated. Instead, she looked over his shoulder to peek at the girl behind him. Expressionless.

"Is this your boyfriend? What an asshole. I feel bad you chose him." She sat back down next to Peridot. The blonde watched Emerald walk next to the girl and wrap an arm around her waist.

"This? Ha! She wished." He grinned at them before lifting her chin up with his thumb and index finger.

The blue haired girl looked like she was about to bite his finger right off. Peridot was sickened. She looked away to stare at the box of fries Amethyst placed on the table. She read the same word 'Fries' over and over, hoping Emerald would leave.

The blue haired girl jolted away from his grab on her and left the canteen. Peridot watched her leave from the side of her eye and looked back at the young man. He licked his lips, watching the girl's rear as the doors closed behind her. She shivered at his acts and turned to Jasper.

Jasper was staring into space, looking at a stain on the table. Peridot took glances between her and the giggling Emerald.

"Can you just leave?" Peridot spoke nonchalantly. To her surprise, he gave a nasty grin before stuffing his hands into his pockets and following the blue haired girl's footsteps.

Peridor let out a deep exhale through her nose and turned to the three girls. Their eyes looked everywhere else, but at her.

"I'm really sorry you guys had to listen to that jerk." Peridot spoke uneasy.

"I can't believe that Emerald still does this to you two!" Pearl snapped slamming a fist on the table. "And now he's toying with _our_ lead role!" 

"That chick? She's the lead role for the play?" Peridot scoffed and tilted her head sideways. "She doesn't seem that expressive."

"You should've seen her at the auditions. Rose was more than impressed with Lapis."  Pearl responded with a wavey gesture. "I guess we might have to remove her if she keeps hanging around with that baboon.

"Who's pencil?" Peridot joked with a grin. Pearl rolled her eyes and Amethyst laughed.

"Haha very funny, Peridot. Lapis Lazuli is a talented and unique actor if you ask me." The ginger deadpanned, her eyes narrowed at the two girls. Garnet stood up abruptly, shaking the whole table.

"Its time to go."

"G-Garnet? The bell hasn't rung yet." Amethyst snorted and stuffed the last fries in her mouth.

"Lets go." She demanded firmly, grabbing hold of Jasper and Peridot by the wrists, much more gently than Emerald.

"O-Okay!" Pearl laughed nervously, and scratched her cheek. 

Garnet let go of the two girl's wrists and stood stiffly. Jasper watched the doors behind the swing closed. Peridot watched as well, catching a glimpse of a fuming mad Emerald. He was holding a wad of wet toilet paper in his hands, screaming at someone. Jasper probably threw a bunch at his car.

He was walking towards the table they were sitting at just a moment ago--now they were standing in the hallway. The four girls walked down the empty hall, and past the corner where Emerald harrassed her. She didn't tell them, of course.

The bell rang eventually, and floods of students ran out of the canteen and to their lockers. Peridot was used to this routine, being here for 3 years and a half. The school year was coming to a halfway point, meaning only about 5 more months until they graduate. That included the holidays these last two seasons. Winter and Spring.

_It all goes by fast, doesn't it?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty! And there you have it.  
> The first chapter.  
> I based Emerald off of Marty a lil bit XD  
> Anyway, should I continue writing the story? Did u guys like the first chapter?
> 
> Im sorry if it isn't detailed enough! This is just an intro.
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> -Kpala


	2. What is "Sorry"?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot meets the student she's "tutoring", and heavily regrets their encounter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ!!!!!!!!!
> 
>  
> 
> THIS CHAPTER WAS REWRITTEN BECAUSE I WROTE THE ORIGINAL WHILE HALF-ASLEEP! PLEASE FORGIVE ME AND MY DUMBNESS! I'LL DO MY BEST TO MAKE THE CHARACTERS STICK TO THEIR PERSONALITIES!!!
> 
> -Kpala

The bell rang when the bigger hand of the clock ticked to 6. All the seniors stood up abruptly, screeching the chairs behind them in a messy unison. Clattering and talking filled the room--along with groaning and laughing. It was Friday, and that meant they would go home and fuck around for the next 2 and a half days. Club activities were held after school for Pearl and the others, while Jasper and Peridot would walk home like the usual. The blonde would be left walking by herself after Jasper would take a right to her neighborhood.

Thats what happened every Friday afterschool.

 

But not today.

"So no more hanging out after school?" Jasper walked alongside Peridot to room 4B, her meaty hands gripped on her backpack straps. Peridot bit her lip and nodded hesitantly.

They stopped walking and stood in front the Algebra classroom door. Peridot glanced at the small window on the door--barely being able to see the whiteboard and the top of Greg's bald head. 

"Can we go bowling on Saturday?," Jasper begged with a pouted bottom lip, her hands interwined with eachother. Peridot blinked her eyes slowly and rolled them.

"I already told you i'm busy that day. We can go on Sunday if you want?" Peridot changed Jasper's intended plan in hopes of an agreement. The bigger girl crossed her arms and looked away. Peridot felt bad, but not so bad that would bring her to an apology. 

Jasper grunted and looked at the blonde lazily. She turned around to start walking the other direction. Peridot felt a tightness in her chest that hurt in an unfamilar way. She watched the dark girl in a black leather jacket take a left around the corner, disappearing from Peridot's sight. 

Peridot could still hear her boots clicking faintly, eventually disappearing as well.

She turned her head to look at the bumper stickers stuck on the brown door. Some of them peeled, and some had inappropriate images drawn with markers and pen by students. A bright pink one caught her eye, this one obviously bought from a carwash. The phrase "The Sin Of A Clean Wash" imprinted on the triangular sticker was faded. Peridot snorted and grazed her fingers around the outlines of the many decorations. Her hand finally found it's way to the door handle, it's metal gave her a shock. She jiggled the metal handle a couple times before it opened with a click.

She took a couple slow steps inside, examining the classroom she has been in over a thousand times.

The desks and chairs remained decent after these past four years. There were about 4 rows of 5 desks that started from the front of the room to the near back. Windows rowed in front of another on the left side of the wall, covered in fingerprints and dirt smudges. The file cabinets around the class were already flooded with papers and folders. Posters on the wall that Greg put up decades ago still stood strong and slightly faded. The slightly cracked walls on the right were damaged from an earthquake a couple years back.

Greg sat in his office chair, his legs up and his eyes closed. He noticed the blonde's presence and opened his eyes. The man greeted her with a smile, the girl gave an akward one. 

"Glad you could make it," Greg let his feet fall to the floor as he sat properly.

Peridot glanced around the classroom, only to see a familiar blue haired girl sitting at the very far right end of the front row. She wore a bright blue crop top and jean shorts. The girl glanced at Peridot from the corner of her eye and returned her attention to Greg.

"You'll be helping Lapis make up for the test she failed earlier this week," He spoke suddenly, startling the staring blonde. Greg pointed at Lapis, who was staring at the bookshelf of mathbooks beside her. She didn't lift her gaze even once when Peridot walked to the opposite side of her desk. 

Peridot gulped, and turned to look back at Greg. The man behind her had his feet kicked up on the desk again, stroking his long brown hair. "Go ahead and take a chair from one of those desks to sit in front of her," He spoke in nearly a whisper for some reason. Peridot nodded to his offer and walked stiffly to one of the desks in the back. This was where Jasper sat. She snickered a bit before grabbing the chair and dragging it back to the front of the room.

Greg's eyes followed as the girl slowly screeched the metal legs of the chair against the floor, creating a horrid sound. The teacher closed one eye tightly and covered his ears with the palms of his hands. Lapis, however, remained unmoving in her seat. Peridot narrowed her eyes at the oblivious girl, finally positioning the chair across from the bluenette.

Lapis did not even look at her. Her attention was drawn to the posters on the wall, head slightly tilted up to read them. This girl's olive skin radiated from the afternoon sun that shined through the windows. Even from the side, she still looked incredibly stunning with her long eyelashes and perfect jawline. Her eyes so dark, you could barley tell they were actually a shade of blue. 

Peridot clenched her jaw and looked elsewhere, removing the backpack around her shoulders carelessly and letting it flop beside the chair. She slumped in the chair and let her legs stretch out. She puffed out air from the side of her mouth to blow the blonde locks of hair that flopped in front of her. She really should get a haircut soon. 

"Have you two...met already?" Greg spoke slowly, the blonde looked at Lapis. She STILL hasn't greeted Peridot or showed any interest of her presence, not any different from how Peridot felt. At least SHE cared enough to look at her.

It was a short silence before Peridot hummed a 'no' in response. Lapis quickly shifted her eyes to glare at the blonde, Peridot felt a shiver go down her spine. 

"Great! Lapis could really use some new friends at this point of the year," Greg interrupted their glare battle. "How about that, Peridot?"

Peridot rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "If it means getting a better grade, then so be it." She stared at the gum sticking out under the desk, she brought her eyes in front of her. Lapis had this grin on her face, not the good kind. The crooked kind. The one that let out that villainous vibe spread across her expression. Peridot widened her eyes in surprise, looking down at the floor again to avoid her contact.

"Alrighty, thats enough blabbering. Go ahead and finish that test up, Miss Lazuli." The balding man returned to his relaxing position and lazily shut his eyelids. Ten seconds didn't even pass before the classroom filled with his nasal snoring. Peridot slowly blinked her eyes at his informality and examined the test that lay in front of Lapis. 

Simple unsolved algebra equations were printed on the white paper. Perisot searched the surface of the desk for a pencil to use, only finding air.  _How irresponsible._ She continued to look around a bit, soon realizing that Lapis didn't even bring a backpack. The blue haired girl watched the blonde take a pencil of her own from the backpack on the floor. Peridot had organized her bag so well, she could blindly bring out a #2 pencil out and place it out on the table. Thats shows how much time she wasted organizing and memorizing where she kept her supplies.

"Here," Peridot deadpanned, handing the girl a dull pencil in front if her. Lapis looked at the pencil and back at her several times. Peridot waved the pencil and rose her eyebrows. "Are you going to take it or not?"

Lapis snatched the pencil from her hand with lightspeed movement. Peridot could have sworn she was still holding the pencil in her hand, when really she wasn't. The blonde cleared her throat and folded her hands on the desk like how Pearl always did it. She watched Lapis hold the pencil in her left hand, staring blankly at the test sheet. 

"Do you need help or something?" Peridot leaned foward to take a better look at the paper; Lapis jolted back in her seat, surprised by the girl's sudden action. Peridot let out a couple stutters of 'uh' and 'I' with her hands up in defense. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Lapis searched her eyes a little bit before scooting back in her original position. Peridot gulped and backed up to give the other girl some space-- and by space she actually sat nearly a foot away from the desk. The pencil in Lapis's hands were steady and unmoving, the graphite gently pressing against the paper.

"Y-You just add those and add the variable," Peridot pointed a finger at the very first equation, hoping she was any help to the bluenette. More importantly, if she could hurry up and get this over with. Lapis continued staring at the page, her shoulders tensed up a bit. 

Peridot was about to speak some more "helpful" words, but she shut her mouth as she watched the pencil finally move. Lapis covered the view of whatever she was writing with her right arm, making Peridot unable to see if she was doing the work correctly. Peridot leaned foward to take a peak, but Lapis pulled the paper towards her chest. The blonde sat back down and frowned.

"What are you doing? I need to see to be able to help you," Peridot insisted the girl to let her see the paper, but Lapis shook her head. The blue hair swayed swiftly, causing Peridot to somehow get entranced by the sight. The blonde could feel her cheeks burn a nice heat. Peridot mumbled, "Fine."

After minutes of scribbling, the blonde kept herself occupied by daydreaming. The backround snoring was just enough to keep herself from going insane from silence. Peridot leaned in her chair, causing it to dangerously rock back and forth on two legs. Her daydreams were interrupted by crinkling of paper. She opened her eyes to see that Lapis was shaking the finished work in front of her, wearing a grin. 

Peridot gently took the test sheet from her hands and gave Lapis a careless thumbs up. She scanned whatever Lapis wrote on the paper, expecting random numbers and incorrect answers. Her eyes dilated and her naw dropped. She felt her cheeks get hotter and hotter, as Lapis was chuckling devilishly in front of her. She watched the blonde get embarrased by the picture.

A very well drawn vagina. Not _just_ very well drawn, it was as if she stared at a vagina for days and drew it. It was realistic and full of sins. Everything about the private part made Peridot feel uncomfortable,embarrassed, and mad at the same time. The member took up at least half of the paper, covering up the numbers with rough sketch. Peridot grit her teeth and crumpled the paper into a ball. She let out frustrated groans to express her anger; her cheeks still red from the picture.

"Why would you draw that?!" Peridot hissed at the dirty minded Lapis. The blue haired girl made a straight line out of her lips and shrugged as if she were that innocent. Peridot sighed through her nose and darted her eyes around the room--trying to let the image of the vagina escape her mind. She looked at the  "blameless" girl.

Peridot frowned and spoke roughly, "You  _really_ don't care, do you?" The two looked at eachother in the eyes for a couple moments. Peridot rolled her eyes at Lapis's lack of shame. "Just like your boyfriend," Peridot mumbled, her eyes looking elsewhere. She jumped when she heard a raspy and harsh voice respond.

"He's not my boyfriend." 

Her voice was alot different from what Peridot was expecting. She thought she would hear some badass accent come from the girl, but nope. Her voice was alot more feminine and quieter than Jasper's, but contained a similar roughness. Peridot was caught in the moment after hearing her voice, but she shook her head to regain her awareness.

Peridot looked at the scowling Lapis and returned the expression. "Then why do you hang out with him?"

"None of your buisness, Leggy." She coldly replied to the blonde. Peridot was pissed off. She narrowed her eyes at Lapis and stood up straighter to intimidate her. 

"Do  _not_ call me that," Peridot hissed, her voice alot deeper than it already was in her type of mood. Lapis didn't say anything, she just looked away again, this time at the pencil in front of her. Peridot could feel her head about to explode from all the things this girl was casting upon her chaotic life. A couple seconds of ambience past, and Lapis grew a guilty and mad look on her face.

"I heard you're into acting," Peridot did her best to contain her frustrations and change the subject. Lapis looked up at her a bit puzzled by the sudden change of atmosphere, but nodded almost immediately. 

"Can you tell me _how_ you can act, but you can't talk to the others around you?" Peridot could see right through the girl, knowing that Lapis must be some kind of loner with a hidden talent about to burst out into stardom. At least, thats how it went in the movies. Lapis looked a bit perplexed at first, giving a shrug before speaking.

"I feel _different_ when I perform--it's weird you won't get it." Lapis's timid response made Peridot soften up her tense expression. She searched the blue eyes that were looking wandering elsewhere, not knowing why she was still staring at Lapis.

"I do, actually," Peridot said to herself ever so quietly under her breath, knowing for sure-sure that Lapis would not be able to hear her. Lapis quickly turned her head to face her, eyes wide and surpised.

"Y-You do?" Lapis stuttered out, her fingers gripped on the ledges of the desk. Peridot's "whispering" were never really quiet. The blonde hummed in response, her eyes focused on the smile that drew from Lapis's lips. 

"You act too?" Lapis grew intruiged by the similar feeling Peridot and her shared. Peridot shook her head, still captivated by the pretty smile Lapis wore. No, this wasn't like any normal or casual smile Peridot would see her friends give her. This was a super cute smile, sprinkled with innocence. Peridot then remembered what Lapis drew earlier, crossing "innocence" out from her mind.

Lapis narrowed her eyes a bit and started thinking about something. The bluenette tassled with her bangs a bit before saying her thought out loud. "Does that mean...you're stripper?" Lapis wiggled her eyebrows like a fucking creep, making Peridot feel harassed and embarrased at the same time. Then the anger and annoyance starts seeping in.

"What makes you think i'm a stripper?!" She growled at the playful bluenette, ripping up the ball of paper in her hand slowly. Lapis let a finger rest on her chin, thinking and looking up at the ceiling.

"Maybe because you never feel like the real you when you're performing on a stripping stage," Lapis snickered out, her dirty sense of humor stabbed Peridot in the heart. "And maybe Leggy is your club name in bars and shit," Lapis added, her cheeks red from laughter. Peridot bit the inside of her cheeks, _she_ was red because of incredible embarrassment Lapis threw at her. Then, her brain exploded like a bomb.

"You......" She couldn't think of anything to say. At first, Lapis was quiet, mysterious, and timid. Now?! She might be a fucking comedian, that's what Peridot was getting out of her. She stuttered some words out and let out a frustrated groan. The blonde's face was flushed red, Lapis smirked and stood up. 

"I'm done with our tutor session," She said in a whisper, the blonde flicked her head up to look at her. She wanted to flip the whole table and cry, but she sticked with internal screaming. What is up with this girl?

"W-What? That's it? You draw a vagina, make fun of me, and call me a stripper. Now you want to leave all of a sudden?!" Peridot was confused, she stood up as well to face Lapis. The bluenette returned to her dull expression, rolling her eyes at the blonde. She chuckled before she opened her mouth to speak, "Yeah."

Peridot was pissed from Lapis's apathy for her. They were getting along briefly, then  _this_ happens?! Is this what happens in simple conversations? Has Peridot been so introverted, that she forgot how making friends work?

No. She wasn't making friends with her.

Peridot was deceived by the girl, thinking she might be the opposite from Emerald. Just for a moment.

"Fine," Peridot grumbled out, slamming her fist weakly against the table. She grabbed her backpack off the floor, glaring at the the bluenette. Lapis really looked like she didn't give a shit about Peridot's sudden behaviour. Peridot glanced at the sleeping man behind her before walking through the narrow aisles of desks, reaching the back of the room.

This was not fair. Out of all the academic challenged kids in this school, it had to be Lapis. Out of all girls to be dating Emerald, it had to be Lapis. Out of all the students in this school, Lapis had to be part in the play Peridot was in as well.

Peridot reaches blindly into her backpack, grabbing hold of her smartphone and turning it on roughly. She had already walked to the other side of the hall, her mind and body on autopilot. She pressed the recording app and took a deep inhale.

"Log Date: December 2nd. Remember not to get sucked up in the moment and eventually get yourself hurt." Peridot held the recording phone in her hand, bringing in close to her chin. The halls were empty, leaving her feeling isolated and full of frustration.

"I have encountered the senior Lapis Lazuli, and it seems she's a total bitch. Not what I expected, but not uncommon. This happened many times before, with me snapping at others everytime. I just need to get past this month of tutoring without getting physically injured." 

Peridot continued walking down the stairs and through the halls, holding the paused recorder in her hand. The blonde made her way through the main doors, leading her to the outside of the school. It was cold, cloudy, dull and gloomy. The dead trees and empty streets made the girl feel even more islotated and alone than she did in the halls. She looked around a bit, seeing if there was anything interesting going on. Peridot looked at her phone, holding it tight in her nearly numb hands. She bit her lip and pressed to record again. Her voice was shaky, but she managed to speak.

"I do not plan on getting any closer to Lapis, and that's going to keep me from getting hurt, again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lapis is like that one quiet girl in the squad who is actually the dirty and bitchy one. Aka me.
> 
> -Kpala


	3. The Pessimist and Realist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot heads over to Steven's house to finish a song they've been working on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ
> 
>  
> 
> PLEASE READ!
> 
> IF YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED, I EDITED THE LAST PART OF THE LAST CHAPTER. PLEASE CHECK THE LAST CHAPTER IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE LASTES VERSION.
> 
> Eyy! Updates will be once a week! Twice if I get real motivated and filled with energy!  
> -Kpala

"Chrys! I'm going to head over to Steven's house," Peridot yelled out to her younger brother as she jogged down the spiral staircase. She saw the 14 year old boy spread out on the couch, holding a PS4 controller in his hand and flicking his fingers. Doritos and Mountain Dew were scattered across the floor, leaving the butlers and maids to clean it up.

The living room was huge and spacious, filled with chairs and coffee tables they never use. The boy looked at the girl, his eyes lazily half-lidded. He paused whatever game he borrowed from his sister's room without permission and spoke, "That chump? I thought you were actually making some friends, sis." The boy returned his eyes to the large plasma tv and shrugged. "I guess dorks hang out with dorks."

Peridot frowned and snatched the controller from his hands. She barked, "Don't talk crap like that. At least he doesn't hang around bums like Emerald and you!" The older girl narrowed her eyes at the boy, his expression cocky and unfrightened. 

Her freshman brother recently got involved with Emerald after meeting him after school. After that, she kinda drifted away from Chrys, making their relationship enfeeble.

The boy was pretty much just a male version of her, no joke. They both had the same towering height and lack of muscle. Chrys would wear a 'Dope' hat like right now, thinking it was cool. He wore muscle tanks and sagging cargo shorts that showed his boxers. This did not fit a skinny white boy.  He even had the same face, hair and eyes of his sister, including the freckles. Chrys was usually a good kid, but Emerald managed to fuck him up somehow.

"Whatever, just give it back," Chrys groaned, gesturing the girl to hand the controller back. Peridot clenched her jaw and tossed it into his blanket covered lap; turning her heel to walk to the kitchen. 

Peridot searched the cabinets for Doritos, but only found chips she disliked. She frowned and opened her mouth to nag at her brother, but pursed her lips. She sighed and closed the cabinets to open the stainless steel fridge, searching for some Cookie Cats she bought for Steven. Thank god her fatass brother didn't eat those too. She grabbed a bunch of icecream sandwiches and stuffed them into her travel backpack; squished in with her laptop and a flash drive.

"Don't give Randolf a hard time!" She shouted out to her brother before closing the front door behind her, not hearing a response. She groaned and walked down the beach house porch, spotting two stocky bearded men by a gate. She approached the wooden gate and the men, clearing her throat. Chico and Morris looked at her and smiled.

Chico tipped his flat cap and greeted, "Good morning Miss Olivine, off to Steven's house again I see." His Irish accent was music to Peridot's ears, hearing how different it was to the English one. The blonde nodded and turned to look at Morris, who was standing beside Chico. Morris stepped aside from the enterance of the gate, allowing Peridot to walk past. "Have a safe walk," He said to the walking girl, she waved goodbye like always.

The clouds were dark and gloomy, and the wind was freezing. Luckily, snow wouldn't come until tomorrow, allowing Peridot to have a snow-free walk. Steven lived pretty close, him living in a beach house as well. His mother and father took care of him, but Steven called her over to help him out while they were gone.

Peridot met the freshman not long after she met Rose a year ago. He was short for his age, and quite childish with a baby face as well. His black hair was floofy as a cotton ball, and he pretty much wore the same star shirt and jeans everyday. At first, Peridot didn't want to be involved with Steven mainly because he followed her everywhere she went. Eventually, Peridot got fed up and asked him what he wanted. He told her he wanted to do a collaboration with her, making songs and what not. Peridot agreed, only if he would stop messing around with her. Since then, Peridot would make melodies for his songs just for fun.

Peridot watched as the ocean tide swayed, her shoes making the sand she stepped on sound like tiny fireworks. The weather in Beach City was really weird sometimes; the area pretty much had all four seasons. Hot summers, gorgeous springs, leafy falls, and snowy winters. She was glad she wasn't in the middle of a blizzard right now, especially after hearing there was one coming soon.

She made heavy footsteps as she walked up the stairs to the porch of Steven's house. The more she walked up, the better she could see the monument built in the mountain where the house was built next to. It was this weird lady monster thingy, having four arms and a mask that was pretty scary. Rose never gave a straight explanation to what the lady represented, talking about something about spirits and a trinity.

"Peridot!" Steven opened the screen door, seeing Peridot was about to knock on it. He wore dinosaur pajamas, reason being was because it was pretty early in the morning. He gave the blonde a tight hug, leaving her stiff and unable to breathe. "Come in!" He gestured her to take a step inside the cozy home. Peridot walked past Steven and watched him close the door behind them.

"We can sync up the music right after I help Lapis practice her lines." He pointed at the blue haired girl sitting on the couch. Peridot looked over at Lapis, who was holding a a booklet a her hand. 

Peridot stared at her at her, she pointed at Lapis and looked down at Steven. "What's _she_ doing here?" The blonde strained her words through her teeth, her face red hot. Steven walked over to Lapis on the other side of the room and sat to the right of her on the brown love seat.

The boy said with a smile," Well, mom called Lapis over to babysit me! Also, Lapis asked me if I could be Lawrence." He pointed a thumb to his chest, a proud expression on his chubby face. 

"Steven you're fourteen. You don't need a babysitter," Peridot responded bitterly. 

"Don't be such a party pooper to our strong bond, Peridot," Lapis frowned, throwing an arm around the boy sitting next to her and giving him a noogie. "I bet your just jealous he didn't have _you_ for a babysitter."

"Steven, I'll come back when  _she_ leaves." Peridot threw the grinning Lapis a nasty glare, turning her heel to leave the no longer cozy house. She was pulled back, stumbling a bit. Steven was attached to her arm, hugging it tightly and putting on puppy dog eyes.

"Noooooo...Peridot pleeeaaassee," the boy pleaded, batting his eyelashes to persuade the surprised Peridot. She growled deep in her throat and glanced at Lapis. Peridot softened her facial mien, looking back down at the begging boy. 

_Fuck my decisions_

She let out a sigh in defeat caused by the boy's charisma. "Fine." She shrugged, wearing a fake and weak smile on her lips.

Steven smiled brightly and detached his arms from her arm, letting out giggles. Steven looked at Peridot and Lapis, wearing his "thinking face" and rubbing his chin. The boy smiled and stuttered, "Take a seat, Peridot! I-I'll get my computer!" Steven ran away, his feet slapping quickly against the hardwood floors as he left the living room.

This left the two girl's alone in silence. Peridot watched nervously as Lapis read the white booklet in her hand, her eyes scanning the words written inside. The standing girl darted her eyes around the room, doing her best to avoid Lapis. She let out a small akward cough to cover the dead silence, using this as an opportunity to glance at her. Their eyes met, soon locking into a long stare.

"Hey," Lapis said slowly, lowering the booklet onto her lap. Peridot gulped and stuttered out, "H-Hello, Lazuli."

Lapis snorted and gave this smirk to the blonde, leaving Peridot bewildered and blushing. Peridot bit her lip and shifted the bag around her shoulder, holding it closer against her back. "Why are you here?" She asked, Peridot being as aloof as ever. 

"Didn't you hear what Steven just told you?" Lapis relaxed on the couch and gestured her hand when she talked. "Rose called me over to babysit--so I took his company as an opportunity to practice these lines with him," She explained with dullness, waving the white booklet in the air. Peridot wanted to know what script it was for, or what or who she played as--but she didn't want to ask. As Pearl said, it might be just some cheesy play inspired by Rose's romantic  _experiences_. 

"When did you get that?" Peridot pointed at the script, hoping Lapis might not give some sarcastic answer. The seated girl crossed her legs and put the booklet at an angle on her lap. Her eyes remained on the book, not really reading what was written. She responded quietly in a harsher manner, "Rose handed it to me after school when I was walking down the hallway." She looked up at the listening Peridot. "Right after you decided to get all sensitive and fragile and left." 

Peridot scoffed, her freckled cheeks blushing red. "It's not like you we're any better. You know, you were really a bitch back there." She manged to let the curse word roll of her tounge smoothly, not holding any regrets for it. In fact, Peridot felt quite smug after that, feeling as if she were more dominant in a way. Lapis smirked and shrugged, she was playing dumb. 

Lapis was alot more relaxed now, with her responding, "I guess we're both bad at first impressions." Peridot didn't need nor did she want to smile at how true this was. But she did, she felt the smile creep up on her lips unexpectedly. It went away briefly when Peridot said, "So, you didn't mean any of the nasty things you said _or_ drew?" Peridot was pretty convinced that Lapis just freaked out when they met, and that resulted in her being a nasty pervert. Maybe Lapis has a little bit in common with that trait.

The bluenette gave this smile, but not an innocent one. It was the opposite. The troublemaking and mischievous smile that would cause a room full of people to stop and stare at. "I meant it, alright." Peridot froze and her brain exploded in pieces. Was she  _flirting?_ Was this supposed to make her flattered in any sort of way? God these teenage horomones are really starting to kick in.

"W-Wha?"

Lapis rolled her eyes like a bitch and chuckled a bit saying, "I'm just fucking around, why are you so uptight?" Lapis gave another cheeky grin, letting her bare arms rest on the couch arm rest. "Could it be, that you  _wanted_ me to say yes?" The grinning teen was no doubt trying to work her way into Peridot's mind, eventually taking her over like a zombie. She wasn't going to fall for those shenanigans again. But, something about Lapis kept drawing Peridot in.

"No." Peridot said, finally getting a grip of herself instead of acting like giddy 12 year old. It went quiet, the two looked at eachother and exchanged blank faces. Lapis bit her lip and spat out, "Cool." Peridot felt as if Lapis wanted  _her_ to say yes. 

"I opened the file already, so just listen to my song!" Steven came running out from the hallway, holding an open laptop in his hands and earbuds hanging from his pocket. He sat next to Lapis and gestured Peridot to take a seat next to him. Oh, who can resist that smile. Peridot sighed and walked over to the small couch and squished in next to the boy--taking her backpack off and hugging it close to her chest. It's cold.

"Oh! I forgot!" Peridot jumped, catching the other two's attention. She zipped her bag open and brought out a Cookie Cat icecream for the boy. He gasped and set his laptop aside, not caring if it fell or even broke. His eyes were starry and his mouth looked like he was drooling. "Cookie Cat!" He shouted out, gently accepting the snack from Peridot. "They stopped making these, but I already ate the last ones I bought." He waved them in the air, speaking to Lapis. She gave a smile to the boy, as if it were a maternal one. 

"Here!" He handed the treat to Lapis, giggling in excitement. The girl looked over at Peridot and smiled a bit saying, "It's fine, Steven. Peridot gave you the icecream, so you should eat it." Peridot felt a warmth in her chest, telling her to be a good human being and hand Lapis an icecream. After all, they say that being nice serves you well in the future. Thats if, the person you serve doesn't give you something crappy in return, like socks for Christmas.

The boy had a disappointed look as he chewed on the cat-faced icecream sandwich. Peridot dug deeper in her bag, trying to find the other treat that she stored earlier. Pulling the wrapper out, she looked at the cat mascot of the front, giving her the chills. Cookie cat was pretty creepy. "Here." She handed it to Lapis, avoiding her eyes, looking at the snack and thinking about her "thoughtful decision".

There was a moment of silence and a bit of ruffling, but Peridot felt a tug at the other end of the treat. Lapis gave a smile to the "thoughtful" girl and spoke, "Thanks." Peridot's mouth akwardly made a straight line, her cheeks glowed a strawberry red. The girl took a couple glances at Lapis as she dug in her backpack again to pull out the last treat she stored.

"Ready?" Steven said with a mouthful of cookies, holding his laptop in his lap and tapping on Peridot. He looked at her with eyes of enthusiasm that lit up the room.

_OOohhh He's a frozen treat with an all new taste!_

_Cause he came to this planet from outer space!_

_A refugee from an interstellar world!_

_Now he's at your local grocery store!_

_Cookie Cat! He's the pet for you tummy!_

_Cookie Cat! He's super duper yummy!_

_Cookie Cat! He left his family behind!_

_Cookie Caaaaaaat! Now available at Gurgens off route 109!_

The audio clip ended, leaving room in a nice silence _._ Lapis clapped, impressed by the lyrics he sung. There was no music--since Peridot was called over to add them. Steven tapped Peridot and asked repeatedly, "How was it? How was it? Will it sync up?"

Peridot smiled a bit, "I guess I can speed the music up a bit more to sync it." She shrugged, unexpectedly getting a hug from the boy. She groaned a bit, but soon accepted the boy's affection a few seconds later. "Thanks, Peri."

"Aww...would you look at that." Lapis cooed, holding her clasped hands next to her cheek. Peridot frowned and pushed the boy away gently; Steven started giggling as he closed his Bell laptop. He stuffed the last piece of the icecream sandwhich in his mouth and rubbed his satisfied belly.

"Should we start practicing?" He asked, turning to Lapis. The girl shrugged and looked at the booklet on her lap.

"I'll take that as a yes." He turned to Peridot and rubbed his chin as if he had a beard. He chuckled a bit before talking. "Peri, why don't  _you_ be Lawrence?" He pointed at Peridot. The girl tilted her head slightly, showing she did not understand what the hell he meant by "Lawrence." 

Peridot opened her mouth to talk, but Lapis beat her to it saying, "Lawrence is this guy i'm supposed to talk to during some dance scene." So it was some kind of dance musical? Peridot looked back up at Steven who had the script in his hands. He nodded with a grin, his eyes closed. "You would be a perfect substitute!" He shouted in enthusiasm, throwing his arms in the air.

"Steven, I can't act really-"

Steven cuts her off by saying, "Don't worry! It's just practice!" He gave the girl a pat on the back rather roughly, handing the booklet to her chest. Peridot let out a couple unsure groans, looking at the booklet with the bold letters saying "WINTER PLAY" on the top. She looked at Lapis and gave an anxious look, but the bluenette just ignored her and continued eating the icecream sandwich.

Peridot sighed and ruffled the boy's hair and said, "Fine."

* * *

 

"No, Peridot you stand like this." Lapis fixed Peridot's unmoving arm in an akward position, leaving the girl in an uncomfortable and shaking manner. Peridot groaned and returned to her normal stance and crossed her arms.

"This is not my specialty, Lazuli," She told the bluenette, waving her hand in the air.

"You're not even trying," Lapis scoffed and let her hand rest on her hips. She tilted her head and gave Peridot a look. "Just put effort into being a statue."

"Just ask Steven to be Lawrence the Statue. You were doing that earlier, weren't you?" Peridot came up with an excuse as Lapis sat on the loveseat. 

"Well, Lawrence is suppsed to be a pessimistic guy, but Steven is  _way_ too optimistic for this to work," Lapis flipped through pages off the script, barely glancing at them for a milisecond.

"So _i'm_ pessistic?" Peridot scoffed, dramatically placing a hand over her chest. She scoffed again saying, " _Please_ , _i'm_ more of a realist. 

 "Uh-huh, sure. Though, i'm pretty sure a realist is supposed to find beauty in things," Lapis told the cocky girl, making her shut up completely.

"I-I find beauty in all sorts of things!"  Peridot blurted out, her glasses slipping down her nose.

"Like what?" 

"Look, we're getting off topic here, lets just-," Peridot mumbled deeply, looking down at the wrapper Steven threw on the floor earlier. Her eyes remained on the ground as she heard bare footsteps approach her. Lapis suddenly appeared in front of her, a fair couple feet away.

"Like what? What could you  _possibly_ find beautiful?" Lapis grinned, approaching Peridot with slow and short steps. The blonde stood in the middle of the room unmoving, her shoulders and limbs tense. She was doing it again. Teasing her.

"Knock it off, and quit being oh so flirty." Peridot brushed past her, eyes remained on the ground. She made her way to sit on the couch, looking up at Lapis. 

Lapis shrugged and gave a grin saying, "That's just one of my many characteristics." Peridot groaned, zipping the backpack on her lap open, ignoring Lapis as she sat next to her. 

"Anyways, where's Steven?" Lapis changed the subject knowing their conversation died out. "Didn't he say he was gonna use the toilet?" Peridot glanced at her and shrugged, pulling out a flash drive from the bottom of the bag. "He's been in there for a good 20 minutes," Peridot responded, examining the small flash drive in the palm of her hand. 

Lapis yawned and spread her arms out and said, "Well, he  _is_ at that age, you know?" She nudged the blonde, giving a grin. Peridot was processing what she said in her mind, not really getting the direct answer. Eventually, the dirty joke popped in her brain, making Peridot blush uncontrollably.

"Is being a pervert  _also_ one of your characteristics?" She rose an eyebrow, placing the USB on the coffee table across from her. Lapis chuckled and fanned herself with the script. 

"That's for you to decide."

"What does that even mean?" The baffled blonde turned to look at Lapis, a smirk grew on the bluenette's face.

"Only a realist would understand what I said," Lapis chortled, the mischievous look on her face made Peridot frustrated. 

"Whatever," Peridot sighed, a smirk crept on her lips unknowingly. The mood of the room faded when a message ringtone started sounding in Lapis's back pocket. The blonde stared as Lapis jolted up from her seat and reached for her phone. Lapis was thrilled as she read whatever was on her phone, but her excitement faded away slowly. The wide grin turned into a straight face, then to a frown. Lapis bit her lip as she started to tap her thumbs on the screen, replying to the message. She stared at the device for a bit before stuffing it into her back pocket and sighing.

"Is there something wrong?" Peridot didn't want to butt in so suddenly, but she was very very intruiged. Lapis glanced at her couple times and opened her mouth to say, "N-No, it's just......my mom."

"Oh." Peridot responded blandly to the anticlimactic reaction. An eerie silence flooded the room, so silent you could hear fast heartbeats from Lapis.

"I gotta go," Lapis told the seated girl, pointing a thumb at the door. "Tell Steven I left ."

"O-Okay..." Peridot twiddled her thumbs on her lap as she watched Lapis head to the door, the script in one hand. Lapis turned her heel quickly to hastily say, "Oh, and see you on Monday!"

Peridot nodded and heard the screen door shut as the girl left. Not long after, she heard a toilet flush and a sink run. Steven opened the bathroom door in the hallway to enter the living room. He wiped his wet hands on his pajamas and stared at the floor frowning. He sighed, "She left, huh?"

"Does she do this often?" Peridot watched as he sat down next to her on the couch, picking up the wrapper beneath his feet. 

"Yeah...I feel bad because..", Steven groaned and slouched in the couch, closing his eyes tight and clenching his fists. "I-I don't know...Lapis just runs away like that. And-and she pretends I don't know, but I do!" He was blurting out frustration, startling Peridot. 

"What are you talking about?"

He sighed and crossed his arms. "Its...hard to explain." There was a long pause before he calmed down a bit. A small smile grew on his face, weak and fake. "Lapis is really fun, but she always runs off whenever she babysits and I don't know why."

"I-I'll babysit you! Even though you don't need one, I still need to add the music to the lyrics." Peridot stuttered, her voice cracking like Steven's. 

"Right." He nodded slowly, his eyes sadly remained on the floor as he reached over to grab his backpack. Peridot glanced at the flashdrive in her hands and handed it to Steven.

* * *

 

"That's just plain old Lapis," Rose sighed, her chubby fingers played with the pink curls of hair by her ears. "She should just tell me she's busy instead of running off like that." Her eyes filled with worry for the blue haired girl as she sat on the loveseat.

"Thank you for looking after my baby." She caressed the cheek of the teenage boy as he lay asleep on the couch. He passed out hours ago, with the time already being half past 9 at night. "He really needs company when me and Greg aren't around.

"Don't mention it, Mrs.Universe,"  Peridot huffed out as she tossed the strap of her backpack around her shoulder. She headed towards the door, but was stopped by Rose calling out, "Wait."

"You have everything settled out with the rehearsal and everything, right?" The tall lady asked the teenager, making herself comfortable on the couch.

"Yes...I just need to keep tutoring that irresponsible babysitter of yours," Peridot mumbled out the last part, playing with the inside of her pockets. Rose covered her mouth and giggled, her eyes smiled and her blossom hair bounced.

"Just don't go  _too_ hard on her," Rose spoke wryly, giving the blonde a sweet smile.

Peridot blushed intensely and gripped the strap of her bag. "W-What do you mean?"

The big lady tilted her head and looked perplexed at Peridot. Rose chuckled akwardly and said, "You know, she has difficulties on most subjects. Don't jam all that knowledge into her brain at once. She already as so much going on in her life," Rose's tone saddened a bit on the last part, but her happy expression returned in no time.

"R-Right! I-I'll see you in school, Mrs. Universe!" For some reason, Peridot saluted without any thought at all, making the situation more akward than it was. Rose waved as Peridot marched out of the door, gently closing the screen door behind her. She looked up at the starry sky and inhaled the cold fresh ocean air that blew gently into her face.

She had never spent so much time at Steven's house, mainly because there was no point of going there rather than editing songs. The words that both Rose and her son said still lingered her mind as she walked back home.

_"I-I don't know...Lapis just runs away like that. And-and she pretends I don't know, but I do!"_

_"She already as so much going on in her life."_

  She walked past the two Irish men, not noticing their greetings for her as she got lost in her mind. The door to the beach house was open, making the girl question  _why._ She walked inside to see that a tall, slender man was holding the door open for her. Randolf was a German butler who started his shift around the time Peridot was still in grade school. His slicked back hair and pencil moustache was a stereotypical look for him as a butler.

"Welcome home, madame." He closed the door gently behind her as the girl walked into the living room. She noticed the room was just like how she left it, but without the brother. She glanced around the house to see if anything changed, but it was all the same. She cleared her throat and turned to face Randolf and asked, "Where's Chrys?"

"Oh, you know him. He ran off to do shenanigans with his gang again, madame," He sighed, taking a cleaning cloth from the laundry room and wiping the flatscreen TV.

"He went off  _this_ late?" She scoffed, walking over to the kitchen to open the fridge. She tossed the backpack onto the kitchen counter as she searched for a drink to hydrate her dry throat. Randolf entered the same room and cleaned the counters while saying, "No, he left earlier, madame. Sometime around 9 am, soon after you left."

"Oh." She said with dullness, pulling the tab of a soda can back, releasing the air compressed in it. It burned as it went down her throat, sizzling and fizzling as she drank the refreshing coke. 

"How about mother, is she home yet?" Peridot coughed, choking on the drink that went down the wrong pipe. Randolf shook his head, washing the cloth in the sink. 

Peridot chuckled sarcastically, rolling her eyes and leaning against the kitchen counter.

"What else is new?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chrys is like the boys at my school. They sag, and talk about football and fucking eachother's moms. It's disgusting.


	4. 152 days of Heaven and Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Two days down, only 150 to go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAHHHH LORD HELP MY POOR SOUL! I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE SCHOOL EVEN THOUGH IT'S ONLY BEEN 3 WEEKS!
> 
> Omg its so hard moving to another school, especially if you're the introverted type. I still gotta get outta my thick shell.
> 
> Btw chapters like these are so hard to write, especially if stories have a lot of things going on in them. I hope I can explain all the ideas I have in store for this fanfic without confusing anyone.
> 
> -Kpala

"Are you even paying attention?" Peridot hissed with irritation, waving a hand in front of the bluenette's face. Lapis had been staring into space for quite a while, completely ignoring Peridot's algebra lecture. Lapis nodded, returning her nonexistent attention to the bookshelf. Peridot groaned, folding her arms on the table and frowning. "You're never gonna be able to pass this week's quiz, you know that, right?"

"Yeah," Lapis lamely responded, pulling her turtleneck further up her neck. Peridot gave a blank stare, soon scowling at the girl. 

"And that means you won't be able to participate in the play," Peridot told her straight forward, not wanting to sugar coat it or anything. Lapis remained silent, shifting her eyes to look at the snow covered window. It had been snowing since last night, leaving the town frozen and stuck in their heated homes. All of the people except, Lapis, Peridot, and Greg. The two girls had arrived in the classroom a good ten minutes ago, and that meant only another half hour until they could leave. Greg was sleeping on his office chair,  _again._

 _"_ I'm on a break," Lapis deadpanned, closing her eyes and facing her head towards the window. Peridot rolled her eyes and mumbled, "You'll be on a break for the rest of your life if you slack off like this." Lapis gave Peridot a look, slowly closing her eyes again and giving a small shrug. 

"I forgot to ask this on Saturday, but who is playing Lawrence?"  Peridot's curiosity on finding out who would audition for such a boring role consumed her mind. She scooted her chair in to prepare for some kind of conversation with Lapis.

"He moved."

"Huh?" Peridot tilted her head like a confused dog, making Lapis snort a little before she spoke again. "The guy who auditioned moved to finish his senior year at Jersey," Lapis sighed, tugging her turtleneck consistently up to below her jaw. 

"So...who's going to be the statue?" Peridot's voice was a little bit concerned, hoping that they wouldn't cancel the play over some loss of a member. Rose mentioned something about Lawrence being an important role in the play, and that the guy who auditioned was absolutely perfect.

"We need to put up posters again to find another guy, I guess." Lapis shrugged, crossing her legs under the table and sighing. "More work to do."

"Aren't rehearsals this Wednesday? How are you gonna find a guy in two days?" Peridot started to grow more and more interested with the situation, wanting stable and certain answers from Lapis. 

"Don't worry about it, just work on practicing those music sheets Rose gave you," Lapis told her impassively, pretending to play the piano in the air. Peridot scoffed, rolling her eyes to the side.

 Peridot felt like she was being treated unfairly just because she isn't involved with anything other than the music. She was _still_ a member of the play, but the only music provider for the entire musical. Rose had been doing this to Peridot as well, not informing the blonde about the cast members or change of settings. It wasn't until  _now_ she found out that they had lost a protagonist in the play.

"Anyways, since we're on break, you should help me out with this," Lapis rummaged through the flowery backpack on her lap, pulling out a wrinkled script. "Just read these lines." She opened the booklet and pointed at a dialogue scene that was performed by two characters. Roseanne and Lawrence.

"Again, why does it have to be me?" Peridot whined, slouching in her chair. "It's  _so_ obvious that this "Roseanne" is Rose, and that "Lawrence" in some guy she dated before."

"How ironic, since Rose broke up with that guy for being so grouchy and pessimistic," Lapis grinned, skimming through the action scenes written on the paper. Peridot frowned, glancing down at the word "dance" on the paper.

"So it's a dancing scene?" Peridot asked amused, imagining some statue wobbling to do the tango. "That is very unrealistic for an unmoving being."

"Wow, are you skeptical," the blue haired girl scoffed, giving the blonde a funny look. "Didn't Rose mention that Lawrence is a living statue...that can move just fine?" Lapis snorted, gesturing her hand passively in the air. Peridot made an irritated sound with her tongue. She had never been told any details about the play, not even what timeline it was taken in.

"Since it's obvious you never read the script, I guess  _you_ are the one that needs some tutoring." Lapis gave a sly grin, sliding the booklet on the desk towards Peridot. The blonde blinked slowly, looking at Lapis with a bitch face telling her, "This is because you don't wanna study, isn't it?"

Lapis scoffed a "pssh" saying, "Whaat? No, I would never! This is for the sake of learning! Don't you wanna learn about the dramatics that are happening during these scenes?" Lapis jammed the booklet in front of Peridot's face, giving her a charismatic expression. "Just say yes."

Peridot blushed, pushing the booklet away from her face and biting her lip. For the sake of learning? Shouldn't she be the one telling Lapis that? Yet, Peridot grew more and more curious to what might be going in the play, wanting to actually know what's happening while she performs.

Before she knew it, all the textbooks and journals were cleared from the table, leaving the small script in the center. She listened to Lapis, learning that Lawrence was a magical statue that came to life by hearing Roseanne sing. The two first meet in Roseanne's garden, having a little discussion on how he came to life. Soon, the statue learns how to express feelings through dancing with Roseanne, having a mystical and majestic slow dance scene.

"My lady, my lady, you have awakened my stone form by your wonderful singing," Peridot mumbled, deadpanning the whole sentence. Lapis snorted in the middle of Peridot's talking, shaking her head in amusement. Peridot growled, tossing the paper on the table and crossing her arms. She felt embarrassed on how poorly she said the first sentence, wanting to die in a hole. 

"I think a  _real_ statue could have more expression with this line more than you, Peridot," Lapis laughed, teasing the girl with a red tint on her cheeks. 

"I already told you i'm don't have any acting talents," Peridot mumbled, pulling her hoodie over her head to cover her fluffy hair. 

"It's fine, here, just say it with more excitement," Lapis handed the script to the girl, giving a smile to encourage her. Peridot blushed even harder, snatching the booklet with cat-like reflexes and pretended to read it.

"My lady, my lady, you have awakened my stone form by your wonderful singing," she repeated clearly, gasping for air because she started out with barely any air to speak with. Peridot felt a lot louder than last time, feeling a bit more confident.

"You sounded like a depressed robot," Lapis chuckled, covering her mouth as she laughed. 

"Wow, thanks," Peridot responded sarcastically, slumping in her seat and groaning. She watched as the bluenette's laugh died out, leaving them in awkward and tense silence. Lapis cleared her throat and spoke.

"My lady! My lady! You have awakened my stone form by your wonderful singing!" Lapis exclaimed, laughing the sentence will full enthusiasm. Peridot watched in awe as Lapis spoke dramatically, gesturing her hands and everything. Peridot clapped her hands quietly, making sure not to wake up Greg. Lapis bowed her head, pretending to receive roses from an audience.

"That sounded so.....genuine," Peridot laughed dumbly, still amazed by Lapis's ability to fake being excited and happy. Lapis returned to her blank face and shrugged responding," I get it from my mom."

"Why's that?"

"She used to act in Broadway before I was born," Lapis bragged, giving a cocky grin. A couple moments past, her grin disappearing slowly. "I guess she lost her talents to me."

"She quit?"

Lapis bit her lip and nodded, tugging her turtle neck even higher up her neck. "She had to give up all her dreams and possible success in life thanks to me." Peridot's mouth made a straight line, showing obvious guilt and sorry for the girl. It was always situations like this, Peridot wished she could comfort others. But she can't. "I plan on following my mom's footsteps, but without the teenage pregnancy," Lapis added, a small smirk appeared on her face as she gazed at the paper in her hands.

_Don't get attached._

Peridot remembered her number one caution with Lapis in particular, shaking her head to fight off the guilt and pity. 

"E-Enough of me," Lapis stuttered, darting her eyes elsewhere. "Just say the line like how I said it."

"What? Am  _I_ going to star as the statue?" Peridot exaggerated, refusing to say anymore words that came out of the booklet. Lapis's eyes dilated, shimmering like the ocean glow in the middle of the night. Peridot looked behind her to see if there was anything amazing going on, but found nothing but bookshelves. "W-Why are you looking at me like that?" Peridot asked jittery, giving a perplexed look to the blue haired girl.

Completely ignoring both of Peridot's questions, Lapis pulled her phone from her back pocket and switched it to her camera. Peridot stood up abruptly, not wanting to be photographed by her.

"Chill, I'm just gonna try something out," Lapis tapped the phone with her thumb, gesturing Peridot to sit down again. The blonde remained standing, glancing down at the phone and at Lapis back and forth with a worried look. Lapis noticed her her discomfort and placed the phone on the table. "I'm just gonna record you while you say a couple lines."

"Haha, you're funny," Peridot deadpanned, reaching for her backpack in order to leave the room. 

"Sit," Lapis told her firmly, snatching the backpack under the table from Peridot's reach. Peridot scowled and said, "I'm not a dog."

"Please take a seat, Peridot," Lapis insisted, giving a very cringeworthy accent. And so, that's what Peridot did to avoid any more commands directed to her like a dog. Lapis waited a moment, searching Peridot's eyes for reassurance before reaching for her phone and turning it on again.

"They used to tell me you tend to perform better if you know you're on camera," Lapis informed the blonde, tapping in the password on her phone. Peridot hummed in response unsurely, responding with a, "And who is "they?"

"The drama teacher, Mrs. Sardonyx," she responded in a mere mumble, concentrating on finding the camera app on her phone. "Don't worry, i'm just gonna test it out to see if it's true."

Peridot gave a couple of unsure groans, opening her mouth to refuse, but Lapis already started recording. Peridot gulped, darting her eyes around nervously. "Go ahead and read this one, right here," Lapis pointed to a word in the sentence, nodding her head to signal Peridot.

"I-" Peridot started, but was interrupted by Lapis. The bluenette flipped the page unexpectedly, pointing to another word. Peridot looked up at her again, but Lapis started tapping impatiently on the paper. 

"Suck-" Peridot was once again interrupted by Lapis flipping about 30 pages ahead to the near end of the book. She pointed at one of the side character names, mouthing 'go' to Peridot. The blonde rose an eyebrow, but sighed when Lapis gave her a glare.

"Dick..." Peridot squinted her eyes at the name, thinking why she would really say that. She heard Lapis silently laughing her ass off, waving the phone around in the air and slapping her hand on the desk.

"Why you little-!!" Peridot hissed, standing up abruptly, her face hot red with an expression full with unbearable irritation. Lapis stopped recording and started laughing out loud, her  angelic voice echoed through the ambient room. Peridot's mien softened a little as she sat back down and covered her face with both hands. She could feel the heat from her cheeks spread onto the palms of her hands, warming her cold digits.

"Don't worry, it's just a little memory for just the two of us," Lapis wheezed, holding her hurting abdomen. Peridot bit the inside of her cheek, holding in the smirk that she felt crawl on the corners of her lips. Thank god.

"You suck," Peridot gave an empty chuckle, scanning the words she read earlier from the script. Lapis snorted, she finished her uncontrollable laughter and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. 

"Okay, okay, we're gonna do it for real this time," Lapis reached for the phone she accidentally dropped on the floor, checking for any cracks on the screen. Sighing in relief, she turned it on and entered the password and the camera. The first thing on the screen was Peridot making an awkward face.

"I doubt it," Peridot scoffed, placing both elbows on the table to hold her jaw on the palms of her hands. Lapis clicked her tongue, giving a wink and finger gun saying, "Nice pose." The blonde girl immediately sat up straight, her cheeks tinted red as she folded her arms. Lapis booed, giving a thumbs down to the aggressive pose.

"Just, hurry up and record it," Peridot hastily said, impassively flicking her hand towards Lapis's direction. Lapis saluted, giving a One Punch Man expression as she pressed the record button. 

* * *

"Bravo! Great job, Peri!" Lapis stopped the recording, clapping her hands lightly and giving her a smile. Peridot was flattered, but held in the smile that tugged the corners of her mouth. Lapis had stopped the recording earlier, finally finishing the experiment she tested with Peridot. With excitement, she quickly played the video, examining and listening to everything Peridot said and expressed. Peridot felt embarrassed to be hearing her own voice, cringing at the dialogue she spoke earlier. 

"I-It's pretty bad, you should delete it," Peridot mumbled, almost inaudible to hear. Lapis jolted her head up to look at her, raising an eyebrow and saying, "What are you talking about? This is great!" Lapis's mien lit up, making it contagious to the blonde.

"Thanks...." Peridot exaggerated the 's' as she ran her fingers through her hair, ruffling the short bangs that hang from her hairline. She had never been complimented before, only receiving harsh opinions and criticism from her mother and old music teacher. A bright red tint flushed her cheeks, she couldn't help but smile dumbly as well.

"You look cute when you're flattered," Lapis complimented, pointing at Peridot. The blonde was silent, unable to respond, her brain exploded all at once with all sorts of emotions. She didn't want to be called _cute--_ it made her sound like as if she was a child! Peridot pursed her lips, nodding simply in response saying, "Okay." 

_"Okay"?! What the hell was I thinking!? Urggghh, why am I so awkward?!_

Lapis snorted, her eyes smiled and her cheeks a slight tint of red. Peridot felt her heart explode into confetti as she watched the bluenette enjoy herself. She squirmed a bit in her seat, crossing her arms to make herself look more professional.

"Are you finally ready to actually put some effort into your studies?" Peridot pointed at textbooks that lay sloppily on the floor.

"Actually, I have to leave early." Lapis's smiled disappeared almost instantly, returning to her dull expression. She tugged her turtle neck upwards constantly, making Peridot grow suspicious.

"And what could  _possibly_ be more important than studying to prevent yourself from flunking?" Peridot made an annoyed click with her tongue, raising and eyebrow. The blue haired girl remained silent, picking her backpack up from the floor and carelessly tossing it over her shoulder.

'Everything else in the world, I guess," Lapis said cheekily, succeeding into getting on the blonde's nerves.

"No, really Lazuli, the only reason you and I are here is to participate in that play! You're wasting your time if you don't sit down and actually put some knowledge in your brain!" Peridot threw her arms in t he air, her voice strained to keep herself quiet. Lapis bit her lip, pushing the chair in and tightening her backpack strap. Lapis shrugged, sticking a tongue out at the irritated girl.

The blonde let out a nasal sigh, crossing her arms again in defeat to the bluenette's stubbornness. A slight creaking noise could be heard behind her as Lapis looked over the girl's shoulder. Peridot turned around as well, seeing Greg snorting as he woke up from his short slumber.

"W-Why are you two still here?" He opened his eyes slowly, taking long looks at the two girls. He rubbed his eyes and stretched like a fat cat in his office chair, almost losing balance and falling off. Peridot glanced at the clock, noticing it was already way past the time she was supposed to leave. Greg yawned, "Were you able to finish reading both chapters about the lesson we learned today?" He pointed at the whiteboard covered in all sorts of algebra and random variables.

"Y-Yes!" Peridot lied, standing up as well. "We learned  _all_ of those...um...yeah! Right, Lazuli?" She asked with a nervous chuckle, hoping she would get the obvious message. Lapis gave a blank stare at the two, standing as still as a rock. She looked off to the side and stared off into space.

"That's the kind of answer I always expect from her, Peridot," the man chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Peridot glanced at Lapis, seeing that she looked a bit uncomfortable. "What do you mean?" She asked slowly, but before Greg could answer, Lapis decided to start walking out the door. The blonde's eyes followed her, noticing she would not stop tugging the turtle neck upwards.

A bruise.

A purplish patch of skin caught Peridot's eye; the skin different from the rest of her head. It was huge and it would be very obvious if it weren't for the sweater she wore. She pulled it upwards again before she slowly walked out the door, her leather boots clicked as she vanished. Peridot bit her lip, still staring at the open door for no particular reason. The  ~~hickey~~ bruise looked new, as if she had obtained it a couple days ago. How did Peridot know this? Well, that's because she was a victim of many hickeys.

"Don't worry about that, it always happens," Greg told her, a little bit hurt. Peridot widened her eyes in shock before realizing he wasn't talking about the mark on Lapis's neck. 

"Isn't this a problem? I mean, she can just  _leave classes,_ just like that?" Peridot scoffed, pointing at the sticker decorated door. 

Greg shrugged, telling her, "We discussed her being homeschooled, but she was divergent about the idea. It always seemed like a better idea since she never talks to  _anybody_ during class. Not even the teacher staff!" He started pulling out manila folders, picking out papers and scanning them.

"Really? About a ten minutes ago, she was talking to me just fine." 

Greg dropped the paper in his hand as his eyes dilated. "Sh-she spoke to you!?"

Peridot nodded, unsure whether that was a good or bad thing. Greg laughed in enthusiasm saying, "Wow! Now that's something I haven't heard from a student that tutored her!"

"She had others?" 

"Yeah...they-they never really worked out," Greg said nervously, looking off to the side. She wondered what could have Lapis done to make them run off.  _Maybe she wouldn't stop flirting with them._ Peridot smirked at the possible thought in her head.

"You have to help her until the end of the year, Peridot!" Greg exhorted the girl. "It could really help her out in the future!"

"What future?" Peridot said cheekily, rolling her eyes to the side to see the textbooks Lapis left behind. How irresponsible. She glanced back at Greg, seeing a sadder expression on his pink sunburnt face. "We made an agreement that I would tutor her for only a month,  _only_ a month. No way i'm gonna have to put up with her for 5!" Peridot said firmly, leaning against the desk behind her.

"Peridot, this isn't about you. This is about Lapis! Imagine what would happen to her if she resisted to talk to others  _and_ didn't have the eligibility to find a stable college!" Greg sounded desperate, but serious as well. Peridot could see all of this in his eyes, making her feel even worse. Peridot bit her lip and hummed deep in her chest, looking directly at the dirty classroom floor. 

"I.....understand that," Peridot hesitated a bit, looking back up at the man. "I just don't have enough time or care to do it." Greg narrowed her eyes at her, which was a very rare sight to see the man angry. Peridot gulped, speaking again. "But if it's for the sake of someone's future, I suppose I have no choice." Her voice was shaky as she was put under a ton of pressure and reliability. 

"I appreciate that," Greg nodded, glad that she accepted what Peridot disliked very very very  _very_ badly. She cursed under her breath, playing around with the her hoodie drawstring, regretting her action. Yet, it didn't feel as bad as she thought it would, having to help someone after all.

"Well, come here back tomorrow, and for the next 5 months." Greg gave Peridot a wink, getting on her nerves. She clenched her jaw and nodded stiffly, holding in the explosive anger that she was going to throw at the teacher. She let out a sigh and turned her back to pick her backpack up, staring at the books the whole time. She glanced back at the man who was continuing his search through the mail folders. Peridot groaned, picking the books up and adding the heavy weight into her backpack--which already felt as if it had boulders inside.

As she made her way down the hallway alone, she couldn't keep the image of the bruise out of her brain. It wasn't any of her business, but it was so suspenseful. In a bad way, that is. She shook her head, getting a grip of the reality she was living right now.

_Just forget about it, it's none of your beeswax anyways. I still remember when I tried to help that girl from getting harassed after school my freshman year. Eventually, I got my ass beat and my head bruised, what a turn of events._

Yet, she kept having the thought lingering in her mind as she walked back home through the thick inches of snow, going all the way up to a little bit past her ankles. 

"Two days down, only 150 to go," she mumbled to herself, sounding more depressed than she thought she would. Yet, it sounded perfect for the current mood she was in.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FIIIINNNAAALLLYY! I bullied my brain to make itself think!  
> I've been playing too much 2k it's starting to be an addiction.  
> Btw Steven Universe is killing me slowly inside with the amount of feelings these past episodes.


	5. Rejected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot finds herself eavesdropping to a conversation between the school nurse and a student's parent. She also finds out what Lapis did to the video she recorded yesterday, and now she's in a heap of stress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually think this fanfic might turn out well instead of a chaotic mess I expected it to be! I apoligize if the story gets a bit confusing due to the amount of situations, characters, and side hobbies I put in this.
> 
> -Kpala

"You already know you're supposed to notify an adult whenever this happens, Peridot," Dr. Maheswaran pulled an ice bag from the freezer and slowly placed it on Peridot's thigh, leaving it there to treat the sores on her leg. Peridot rested on the leather nursing bed, staring up at the ceiling light that filled the room with a cold and hospital-like scene. Posters that said "Wash your hands" or "Disinfect your wounds" were all over the white walls, going along with poorly drawn pictures. All sorts of medical cleaning instruments and cotton swabs were scattered on the school nurse's desk, looking like a surgery operating room. 

The blonde girl was still in her track suit; sweat drenched the back of her neck and the brim of her hairline. The ice laid on where her knee and shin met, numbing all the pain she could feel. Dr. Maheswaran unlatched the girl's prosthetic leg with ease, already knowing the routine after years of doing this. Peridot covered her eyes with the back of her arm, ready to take a nap while she rested her aching leg, but the part-time nurse decided to speak. 

"Nobody is forcing you to run the mile, just tell Coach Sugilite whenever you're feeling uncomfortable," she informed the girl, placing her detached leg on the side of the bed, wiping her forehead with the back of her arm.  Peridot clenched her jaw, peeking at the lady with one eye.

"I was doing fine, it just started hurting out of nowhere," the blonde bluffed, staring at the green cased leg. The right leg of her pants was pulled halfway up to her thighs, scrunched up and slowing the girl's blood circulation. The doctor crossed her arms in disbelief, giving Peridot  _the look._

"What!? I'm being serious here! I really was doing fine, doc," she bluffed even harder, trying to convince the lady. Her leg had been aching since the second lap, forcing her to turn into a slow jog. She soon turned into a extremely slow walk until she collapsed.

The woman closed her eyes and put her hands up in defense saying, "Whatever pleases the patient." She pointed at the poster that imprinted the same phrase she just said, making Peridot cringe. She walked over to her desk to retrieve a piece of paper to write a doctor's note for the girl, probably the hundredth one these past four years. She placed it on the table beside the girl who already knew what to do without any further explanation.

 _"Rest here until you feel better, then go ahead and take the note and walk back to class"_ was what Dr. Maheswaran would always tell her. And of course, she would tell her another time.

The woman walked out of the curtains that separated Peridot from the rest of the nurses's office, leaving the girl alone in the little space. Curtains surrounded her, making her feel as if she were in some sort of box of fabrics. She inhaled and exhaled heavily, leaning forward a bit to massage her aching limb slowly.  The rest of her leg ended at her knee, leaving an empty space for where the shin was  _supposed_ to be. She scratched her nail gently against the wrappings on her thigh, picking off strings and patches of extra wrapping. She sniffled, laying back down on her back and covering her eyes with the back of her forearm again.

_Blaring sirens. The sound of her own screaming filled her ears as she was carried into the ambulance on the stretcher, her mother beside her. Jasper tried to punch the medicals out of the way to see her best friend, but failed._

_Oh how Peridot wished she hadn't ran. Ran away into the street._

_Men in scrubs surrounded her as they did their best to make the thirteen year old girl live another day._

_Where's her leg? She can't feel her toes, nor can she see any. Oh._

_Oh._

_Then, her whole body becomes numb in shock as she see's the bones twisted and turned like train tracks. The horrid sight kicks her into insensibilty._

_She really hoped_ _she would stay asleep forever._

Peridot's eyes fluttered open as she awoke from her dreamless slumber. The teenager turned her head to the right to see that the note was still there, waiting for Peridot to leave already. The room so quiet, too quiet. She took it back once she heard a woman speaking on the other side of the curtains; her heels clicked as she paced the room back and forth.

"She came in today, again," the woman sighed, speaking to someone. Peridot didn't hear anyone respond, presumably the lady was on the telephone. Her heels clicked slower, and Peridot could catch a glimpse of the lady pass by through a small hole in the curtains. Peridot sat up quietly, wincing to the sore pain inflicted to her right leg. She covered her mouth to stop herself from groaning like a zombie-- and succeeding.

"I think this is starting to become a problem, Mrs," the woman spoke worriedly into the smartphone. Peridot's eyes dilated as she jumped to a conclusion of what the woman was going on about. She was speaking to her mother.

Oh, how much Peridot wanted to die right now, or just crawl into a hole and stay there forever! What would her mother do to her if she found out she had been skipping class over a stupid piece of metal attached to her cripple leg. She wanted to scream externally, but stuck with endless internal screams into the void of her mind. She bit lip, squinting her eyes to focus her vision of the woman through the hole.

"Your daughter might be in trouble if you don't have a talk to her about it," the nurse added as she leaned against her sturdy desk. She nodded to whatever she was hearing on the other line, making Peridot feel anxious and frightened to what the response would be. If it were her mother, she would have been kicked out of the house. Maybe that would be a bit too much, but hey, who knows. Peridot gulped and scooted herself closer to the edge of the bed to listen even closer to the conversation. A short pause of silence caused a suspenseful feeling to linger in her chest, as if it were a mystery soap opera.

"No, I am not assuming, Mrs. She might be having underage sex right under your nose," her tone grew harsher as she firmly placed a hand on the desk. 

_Underage sex? Is sticking my leg in a prosthetic considered intercourse?_

Before Peridot could rethink her ridiculous thought, the woman spoke again, even more abrasive. "Are you saying she hasn't told you she's been coming in my office with hickey marks all over her neck!?" The nurse was practically screaming at this point. Thank god the door was closed.

The eavesdropping girl's mouth hang ajar as she listened, intruiged by the dramatic expression the lady had. "Listen, Mrs. Santos, if I see your daughter walking around in the hallways with a bruise on her neck, i'll be forced to call the authorities!" The woman hissed, hanging up with the tap of her thumb. She snorted like a bull and tossed the smartphone carelessly on her desk, sliding to the brim of it. Peridot bit the inside of her cheek and backed away to sit on the side where her metal leg rested. The woman sat in her chair and rubbed her temples, glancing at the space Peridot was in.

"You should get to class now, Miss Murphy ," the woman sighed as she tossed old cottonballs into the trash beside her. Peridot felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand the moment the lady said her surname. She gulped and nodded, not visible to the woman on the other side of the room. 

She grunted as she bent over to pick up the light weight prothetic, sliding her thigh into the chamber and latching the straps around it. Making sure it was extra tight, she stomped on the ground to place it firmly, nodding once satisfied with the comfortability. She pulled her right pant leg down to cover the shiny metal and stood on her feet, using the desk beside to to gain balance. She snatched the note off of the desk and pulled the curtains back roughly, almost falling down with it.

The nurse looked up at her with a wrinkled smile and looked down at the papers she had on her desk. "Go ahead and change in the locker room," The woman told her, pointing at the closed door covered in medical crosses. Peridot already felt comfortable in the tracksuit--not wanting go take it off. But, it's pretty gross to be walking around in sweaty fabrics.

"Um..who were you talking to?" she asked casually, pointing at the IPhone. The nurse pulled a lock of hair behind her ear and sighed, picking up her phone and wiping the screen with the cloth of her coat. "It's a student's irresponsible mother," the woman growled through her teeth, turning her phone on  and tapping it aggressivley. "I would never let  _my_ daughter get away with such informality."

"R-Right...b-but what informality?" She didn't want to seem too nosy, but she couldn't help but sound like she liked getting in people's buisness.

The woman sighed again saying, "Look, I shouldn't be telling students about personal situations we have with parents, so it's best if you get yourself changed." Peridot felt a tightness in her chest after being rejected, but it wasn't her fault she felt bad. She simply nodded and waved the woman goodbye, not saying another word. The nurse pulled out a large folder under her desk and slowly opened in, scrolling her fingers down the long lines of sentences that Peridot was too far away to read. She heard murmuring coming from the nurse as she slowly walked out the room, her eyes remained at the side to peek at the woman.

"Close the door on your way out!" the woman called out, and that Peridot did.

The hallways were empty, and that was for a reason. It was already lunchtime, and almost nobody hangs out in the halls during lunch. How surprising, really. Peridot could not stop taking glances at the nurse's door as she walked down the west wing hallways on her way to the locker rooms. Her mouth was dry even though she drank plenty of water while she was in the office, making her tire as she slouched her way in the empty halls. And to top her tiredness, thirst, and hunger, she still had 3 more classes until the end of the day.

"Oh! Peridot!" a feminine voice called out, alarming the girl's reflexes as she put up two fists to face the person behind her. A woman with pink ringlet hair spilled over her shoulders and down to her waist stood in front of her, her face just as surprised as Peridot's. The teacher giggled, placing her chubby hands over the girl's fists and pushing it downwards. "It's just me," she giggled.

"O-Oh, Mrs. Universe!" the girl laughed nervous, self-concious of her own actions. "Sorry about that."

"Its alright," the woman chuckled, her eyes beamed just like her son's. "It's actually perfect timing for me to meet you in the halls this hour." Rose placed both hands on her curvy hips, flattening out the ruffles on her office suit. The blonde tilted her head like a confused dog, giving an expression like one too.

"I would like to thank you for taking the role of Lauren the statue, it really is a big contribution," the teacher thanked the girl softly, her eyes twinkled. 

"What?" Peridot snorted, starting to become a bit perplexed by the whole situation. Rose's lips formed a straight line, and her eyebrows knitted to form a face that Steven wore alot. "I-I never agreed to any of that!"

"Lapis sent me the video of you reciting the lines yesterday!" Rose clasped her hands, her eyes shimmered like tropical stars. "You were even better than David!" the woman laughed with enthusiasm, approaching the frightened girl.

"Lapis showed you!!??" Peridot ran her fingers through her hair; her cheeks glowed an obvious red as she avoided the woman's eyes. "It was all her idea--not mine, I swear!" Rose stood still for a bit, making an awkward line with her mouth.

"Of course it was, she said you would be a perfect replacement," Rose told her; the blonde girl felt a swarm of relief attack her entire body as she let out a sigh. But her body tensed up again as she proccessed what Rose just told her.

"She what? Rose I-I wasn't informed that  _I_ would be Lawrence!" the girl stood up for herself, pointing a thumb to her chest. 

"We changed it to Lauren."

"It doesn't matter! Lapis never said she would use _that_ as some audition!" she squeaked her shouts, trying not to cause a scene in the peaceful hallways. "I-I can't even act, and you know that!" Peridot watched as Rose's smile faded away into a disappointed mein, her eyes went off to the side.

"I know that you can, Peridot," her voice suddenly shifted to morose, taking the girl off guard. "I've known you for four years as a student, and as a friend of my son, and I  _know_ you." The lady sighed and looked over Peridot's shoulder before looking down at her again.

"Ever since the accident you had 5 years ago, you changed a massive amount, in a good way. You became competitive, a perfectionist, a non-stop laborer, and not to mention on of the cockiest people I have ever met!" Rose chuckled, and Peridot couldn't help but blush at the praise. 

"Peridot, you are perfect for this opening! Even Steven is excited for you to rehearse with us tomorrow!"

Peridot felt under pressure, almost feeling as if tons of weights were stacked on her shoulders at once, causing her to feel uneasy as she breathed. 

"You have all the determination for the role, and it shows very well," Rose said, giving a beaming smile to her. Peridot gulped and flicked the zipper of her track suit jacket nervously, feeling bad that Rose was actually resorting to  _her_ to become a replacement. Peridot clicked her tounge in annoyance, darting her eyes off to the side and focusing on the rusty water fountain.

"I'll pass," she mumbled, walking past large woman swiftly, keeping her emotions in range to stop herself from making dumb choices. She was waiting for something dramatic to happen like Rose shouting for her to come back, but Peridot would just keep walking with tears in her eyes.

But no.

The rest of the walk down the hallway was filled with only the sounds of heaters blasting high up in the walls. Somehow, Peridot felt the guilt build up inside her chest as it was breaking her slowly. She didn't ask for any of this. It wasn't her intention to turn Rose down. She started grumbling to herself, thinking about the person that has been on her mind all day long.

_Stupid Lapis._

* * *

"That's what happens when you hang around with those guys," Jasper told her with a shit eating grin. "It even had to be Emerald's girlfriend, huh?"

Peridot wanted to correct her badly, but it wouldn't do her any good. She bit her lip and kicked the rocks on the sidewalk, not paying attention to where she was walking.  Peridot did not know what Lapis planned on doing with her, but she didn't care anymore, and that's because she already rejected the role. 

"Buuuuut..it  _would_ be pretty funny to see you dance on stage, just to see you trip and fall," the larger girl teased, nudging the blonde off the sidewalk. Peridot rolled her eyes and smirked at the thought, imagining herself doing some ballet dance just like Pearl. "Why'd you even turn it down anyways?" Jasper asked.

Peridot shrugged and gave an unsure answer, "It's just not my forte." 

"Neither is math, but I still do it," Jasper groaned. 

"Well that's different cause algebra is something required for you to be able to pass highschool, while theatre is just some dumb thing my mother forced me to be in." Peridot dug her nails into the straps of her backpack, as she watched Jasper's facial expression change.

"Plus, Lapis went ahead and said " _Hey! Peridot wants to play as some stupid living piece of cement for the play, and i'm here to lie about it_!" Peridot mocked the blue haired teenager, making Jasper laugh. "And now I feel bad for Rose."

The two girl's continued to walk through the peaceful and chilly neighborhood in silence, giving Peridot time to think about all the shit happening today. "You know, if I were you, I would join the play," Jasper mumbled, her breath evaporated into the fog that disappeared in seconds. Peridot scoffed and shook her slowly, looking at at the towering girl with an eyebrow raised.

"Are you serious?"

"Not even joking, P. If I had any sort of talent, it would probably be acting," Jasper said, making all sorts of dramatic gestures in the air and on her chest. Jasper shrugged and added, "It's my opinion though, you probably think otherwise."

Peridot sighed nasally and responded, "Maybe." 

"Well, i'm still glad I have the talent to put on _this_ gun show!" Jasper howled with arrogance as she flexed her right bicep, making all sorts of embarassing faces. Peridot shook her head as she smirked--entertained by her best friend's stupidness. Not so long after, Jasper recieved painful cramps after putting on her "gun show" for 5 minutes straight; Peridot laughed hysterically as she made fun of her.

The girl was left alone as she Jasper turned a corner not so long ago. Peridot could see the two brown haired men in the distance, laughing and talking to eachother by the property. Once Peridot was in their sight, they turned to face her and tipped their hats.

"Tráthnóna maith duit!" the two men greeted her with their charismatic smiles, opening the gate for the girl. Peridot didn't say anything until she walked in as she responded with, "Tusa freisin." Peridot's gaze remained on the cement until a shiny car in their driveway caught her attention. A fucking yellow Bugatti. The teenager frowned at the sight of the flashy car, walking past it as if she never saw it in the first place. She started grumbling prophanities to herself as she stomped up the porch stairs and took a ring of keys out of her pocket, picking out the one belonging to the front door.

The doorknob jiggled abruptly, startling Peridot and making her squeak. She cleared her throat and pretended she never made the weird sound; she backed away from the door as it smoothly opened. A tall woman in red dress stood before her, holding a black leather purse with heels that weren't necessary for her natural height. Her mother had tanned her skin months ago, but she was too white for it to have any effect, leaving her fair skinned. Her eyes were narrow, and here eyebrows would cost hundreds to be "on fleek"; her thin lips smeared with red lipstick, and her wrinkles gave away the fact that she was a 40 year old single mom.

Peridot's mother gave her a glare, examining her expressionless daughter. "Rose called me today, and you know I hate receiving calls from _her,_ " the buisness woman said bitterly, her voice raspier than ever. The tone of her voice flooded Peridot's ears with toxic waste, but worse than that. "She said that  _you_ passed off the opportunity to become a bigger role," she exaggerated almost every word in her sentence. 

"I-"

The towering lady put a hand in front of her daughter's face, giving her a scornful look. "You are to participate as whoever this "Lauren" member is, and not to make a fool of yourself," she told her firmly, letting her skinny arm fall back to her side. "I don't care if you like it or not, you will impress the scouts that will be watching you there." She walked past the girl, her heels clicked loudly down the porch stairs and on the cement. Peridot turned around to look at her mother--her hands trembling in stress.

" _Do not let_ me down, and that is a demand," her mother ordered coldly, her back faced the blonde, intimidating Peridot. She turned her head slightly to glance at Peridot before she went ahead to walk slowly to her Bugatti, entering the vehicle with a dead expression.

She watched blankly as her mother turned the ignition on to show off the loud roar of the Bugatti; the headlights glared and the engine whirred. The two men posthaste the gates open to let the woman exit the driveway; Chico and Morris winced as she drove past them hastily, almost knocking them off their feet.

"Bualadh craicinn cailleach!" Morris cursed loudly as he  stumbled to regain his balance. Chico stood beside his brother to calm him down as he rubbed his back; the two glanced at Peridot and gave a sad look. The two men both shook their heads and walked through the gate to close it behind them, disappearing from the teenager's sight.

Peridot gulped and ran her fingers through her scalp as she walked into the empty house, hoping her brother wasn't there to ruin the day even more.

"This is crazy," Peridot chuckled with emptiness, shaking her head and tossing her backpack into the corner of her room. "Who does she think I am? I couldn't even recite my poem back in middle school--now this?" she scoffed, letting herself fall on the bed. 

The heater was on, and the ambience of the room was driving Peridot crazy with the thoughts that scattered all over her brain. She had no options at all, and if she dared to protest, who knows what might happen to her. She squeezed her eyes tight and let out frustrated groans into her pillow, screaming out muffled curse phrases. Peridot sighed, tossing the pillow to the edge of her bed; she looked up at the ceiling where a fan was connected, slowly turning. She let out  a sigh, resigning from her childish behavior and handling her problems like the adult she is supposed to be.

She closed her eyes and thought about the upsides of life, and about what she would gain from this. Peridot relaxed her entire body and went in the  _zone_ : a place Ruby taught her to go to whenever she felt like destroying a town. 

Peridot drifted off into a slumber without further actions; she felt all the stress leave her all at once. But her consciousness spoke otherwise.

Too much happened today, much more than she expected in her chaotic life. She wished that she could take control of all of that bullcrap, but she can't. She can't because she's scared. 

But why? Scared to be rejected, that's why.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yayyy Irish Peridot!  
> You would not believe how long it took me to search up those phrases online, it took days.  
> Btw when I decided "Murphy" would be Peridot's surname, I couldn't help but think of Eddie Murphy.  
> -Kpala


	6. The Odd Frog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She pulled the phone up to near her lips and sighed.
> 
> "I like Lapis Lazuli."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dang, how long has it been, a month?
> 
> Listen peeps, i've been doing not so great in school and I have to fix that. So, what i'm gonna do is take less time off of fanfics, and put that into extra credit work in school.  
> It's hard for me to put a pause doing what I absolutely love, but it's for the best.  
> It's not you, it's me XD.  
> Anyways, i'm still giving this story an end, but it'll be later than what I originally hoped.  
> And thank you guys for 1000 hits, it really means a lot! 
> 
> -Kpala

Peridot's fingernails tapped on the desk rhythmically, hard enough to make her fingers numb. A scowl plastered on her face as she stared at Lapis Lazuli. Greg was (of course) asleep in his rickety office chair as it squeaked whenever he exhaled. The heaters that blasted on the high walls of the classrooms stopped gusting out it's warm and toasty air. The clocked ticked as if it were in slow motion, taking nearly minutes to move it's big hand once.

Peridot exhaled through her nose, closing her eyes and slamming the palms of her hand against the desk.

"Mind explaining  _what the fuck_ makes you think I would want to play as some stupid piece of concrete?" she asked bitterly, opening her eyes to reveal the literal pits of hell. Lapis stared at her, wearing her usual 'eh' expression that made the raging girl even more irritated.

"Look, I get that you want to help Rose and all-" she spoke a bit calmer, tensing up in her seat to refrain her screaming.

"-but I _really_ don't have time for that crap."

Lapis froze, a scowl grew on her face as well. "Don't call it  _crap,"_ she hissed through her teeth, alarming Peridot. The blonde looked off to the side and nodded barely and slowly as if to say 'fine'. Peridot shook her head and maintained eye contact with her again.

"Lapis-"

"Peridot," she spoke over Peridot firmly; she gave her a sad stare. Peridot felt like they were fighting like a married couple. She immediately fanned that thought away and spoke.

It took a couple seconds of hard silence before Peridot managed to spit out, "Fine."

A smirk appeared on Lapis's face -- her usual playful one. And out of nowhere, a beating of a snare drum during a marching band pounded inside Peridot's chest. No, she wasn't having a heart attack -- nor did she know what was happening. It didn't hurt. It felt.... _good._

She stiffled a gulp and forced a serious look on her face, masking a grin that nearly showed. The marching band had a finale as her heart rate finally slowed down to it's normal beating. Her eyes met the ocean blue in a quick glance, and that just brought the performance back to life just a little bit.

How peculiar.

* * *

The two girls walked side by side down the hallways and down the stairs, past hundreds of  forest green lockers and past tons of classroom doors. Peridot's attention focused on the many posters stapled and pinned onto the crowded bulletin boards. Many of the papers were just memes people printed out. Some, were actual openings for clubs and other activities. Others, were just random shit.

Peridot grinned as they walked by a certain paper that had "Oh Shit Waddup Here Come Dat Boi" imprinted on it; a frog on a unicycle below the bold letters. Lapis, obviously didn't find that amusing since the disgusted look she wore gave it all. That just amused Peridot even more.

The afternoon sun barely shined through the clouds and through the pane glass. A certain weather Peridot loved to enjoy.

_I wonder if Lapis likes the winter._

Peridot's eyes dilated as she glanced quickly at the blue haired teen from the side of her eye. She clenched her jaw and almost immediately shook the thought out of her head.

The walk to the auditorium seemed like a hike in the forest. Just without the trees, and critters, and fun. Wait, no, Peridot hates walks in the forest. The last time she hiked in a forest was when her mother accidentally lit one on fire with a stray cigarette. She frowned at the memory of ash clogging her lungs and entire respiratory system. She scoffed to herself.

"Oh, there you girls are!" a voice squealed joyfully from the other end of the hall. At the end, were two metal double doors with theatre posters swarming the front. And in front of the doors, was a giant woman with her white teeth gleaming like stars. Rose clasped her hands together and watched as Lapis and Peridot neared. Her eyes focused on Peridot, the expression she wore was her thinking one. 

"Hello Lapis and Peridot," Rose greeted, giving a radiant smile. 

"Hey," Peridot simply responded, pulling her hand up in the air to do a quick wave. Lapis simply flicked her head upwards to say "sup". 

"Ohohoho, your mother said she was so happy you are taking a bigger role," Rose praised, but Peridot frowned.  _Sure she is._

"And Lapis I had a talk with your mother as well, but you still need to get your grades up  _a lot_ better," she said, raising her hand up in the air, facing it down to the floor and showing exactly  _how high_ Lapis's grades need to be. Rose cleared her throat and spoke again.

"Sardonyx is going to be  _so_ happy!" Rose giggled, gently taking both Lapis's and Peridot's wrist in each hand and tugging them amiably. Peridot almost had her reflexes yank her hand away, but she refrained. She glanced over at Lapis -- who seemed to be as calm as ever.

"Now lets get you suited up," she told Peridot, turning around to kick the double doors open like the FBI. The two teenagers flinched, but Peridot soon realized what were behind these doors. A staircase led downwards beside rows of auditorium seats. A large stage with hardwood floor sat at the very back and bottom of the room. Black and velvet curtains covered half of the stage, revealing the students that scattered across the platform. Most of which, were just fooling around behind Rose's back. The stench of old clothing fabric intruded Peridot's nostrils. The dim lighting was thankfully brought enough to make out the dark faces that stared at the three.

"Come on down," Rose said, tugging the two girls as they made their way down the rough carpeted stairs. By the time they reached the bottom, Peridot was dumbfounded by how large the auditorium actually was. The rows of seats seemed like mountains, and the room was large enough for echoes to bounce off the walls. Rose finally let go of their wrists, allowing them to freely roam the auditorium stage. Peridot jogged up the hardwood stars that led to the platform of the stage, her eyes filled with curiosity. She looked over at Lapis, who was leaning against the wall like a dull mannequin. 

Her feet carried her onto stage, but she was stopped.

"Stop right there, intruder!" A barrel of a rifle stuck out into her sight, nearly touching the tip of her nose. She gasped, startled, she took a step back and struggled to maintain her balance. The wielder of the plastic rife was Pearl, in a baggy red coat with golden buttons. Red slacks added more of the brightness to her outfit, as well as the towering red and golden had on her ginger hair. Pearl's boots clicked as she took a step towards Peridot, raising an eyebrow and frowning. 

Behind her was Garnet, wearing the exact same costume and holding a rifle as well. Her shades still masked the emotions that were in her eyes.

"We are the Crystal Guards!" Pearl said proudly, slamming the end of the rifle against the floor and posing arrogantly. Garnet took a step forward to stand beside her, adjusting her glasses and speaking as well. "Protectors of Roseanne's beautiful and divine garden."

Peridot frowned, propping her glasses further up her nose and crossed her arms. "Protecters of Roseanne's weed infested pile of dirt," she mocked, offending Pearl. The pale teenager gaped her mouth open in shock, slamming the end of the rifle again. 

"Do  _not_ disrespect the humble property!" she squawked, pointing her rifle at the stage props behind them. A large (but fake) water fountain stood in the middle of the stage. On the ledges, were stuffed colorful birds. All sorts of fake flowers and plants surrounded the entire stage; a rose bush in particular, seemed the be the most vivid looking. The yellow stage light that shined from above gave off a perfect mood for a morning garden. Peridot had to admit that this was impressive. 

"What's good, Peri-dactyl?" an annoying voice sounded in Peridot's ears. A chubby arm hooked around her neck, pulling her down like a weight. She groaned, shoving Amethyst off of her weak body and patting her shirt. Amethyst fell on her butt, laughing mischievously as she stuck a tongue out between two fingers to show off the rude gesture. Pearl smacked the back of the latina girl's head like she has done that over hundreds of times.

"I told you to stop doing that, Amethyst," Pearl lectured, propping a hand on her hip. Amethyst rolled her eyes and stood up, saying, "But it's fun!"

Pearl shook her head in disagreement, her skinny fingers wrapped around the trigger tightly. " _This_ is why  _you_ ended up backstage."

"No, it's just that I don't want to wear some lame ass outfits like you," Amethyst said in disgust. Pearl continued to squawk during their argument; and Amethyst just continued to come up with silly comebacks.

"So  _you_ must be Peridot, am I wrong?" a voice spoke behind her. The tone was stereotypically a " _one of those rich people that sit in their mansions and drink tea by a fire."_

Peridot turned around quickly, examining the towering tan lady that stood before her. Her hair up in a triangle with smoothed vertices; and her apparel was still stereotypical with the neat tuxedo and white gloves that covered her hands. The shades she wore were similar to Garnet's, but you could actually see the intimidating tinted eyes. She grinned, showing off the gap in between her two front teeth. 

The woman stuck her gloved hand out. "My name is Ms. Sardonyx," she spoke nonchalantly, placing a hand on her chest. "If you hadn't already known, I am the theatre teacher here in Beach City High school."

Peridot stared at her hand as she shook it, making awkward eye contact with Sardonyx. "Nice to meet you," she spoke slowly to avoid embarrassing stutters.

"We're only trying out our costumes today, so you won't need to worry about any lines today, dear," Sardonyx said, the word dear caught Peridot's attention. She hated that word.

"I hope that during these practices, that I will get to know all of you students better before you head out for college," she told Peridot. She most likely told each and every one of these kids on and off stage those exact words. Peridot nodded, her eyes trained elsewhere as Sardonyx continued to blabber on with her uninteresting nonsense.

Where  _elsewhere_ was was actually on Lapis and Rose, having a conversation in the mere corner. Rose was talking worriedly, her eyebrows raised with a sad look. Lapis wasn't speaking, her  hands propped on her hips and her brows wrinkled into a scowl. She looked off to the side, like she was tired of speaking to Rose. The conversation stopped as the woman sighed and left swiftly, leaving Lapis alone in the shadowy corner. Her eyes were watery as she gnawed on her bottom lip. Peridot had been staring for longer than she intended, and now she was lost in the "conversation" she was having with Sardonyx.

"Go ahead and try this on," Sardonyx spoke, knocking Peridot out of her own stare. She was startled with the clothes hanger that was thrown into her arms. The costume was concealed in a plastic, making it harder to see what exactly was inside. The only things she could refine in her vision was a red bowtie that was squished under the plastic.

"Lapis! I need you over here, please!" Sardonyx's voice echoed off the walls until the message hit Lapis. She turned around to face them, wiping her eyes with her sleeve and before slowly striding her way towards the two. From there, Sardonyx plopped a clothes hanger into Lapis's arms, the costume protected with plastic as well.

"I'll have both of you go in pairs to the bathroom to try those on," she said, flicking her hand dismissively towards the stairs. "Don't come back unless you are wearing every piece of apparel in that, you hear?"

"Yeah," Peridot groaned, turning her head to see Lapis nod.

 

Here Peridot was, standing in front of the stained mirror. She trained her eyes on the vest on her torso, and the white shirt underneath. A brown leather belt kept her beige slacks up her waist. The black shoes looked like something people in church would wear every Sunday. She adjusted the red bowtie below her collar, making sure it was right in the middle. She twisted and turned the gray flat cap that capped her head, unsatisfied with almost every position it was in. This costume was really getting on her nerves.

She sighed, staring at the reflection of a bathroom stall in the mirror. All sorts of penises and dumb phrases were drawn on the door with permanent marker. A stench lingered in the entire space, building up a massive headache in Peridot's head. She refused to use the school bathroom, mainly because she would find period blood, crap, and other nasty fluids inside the crappy toilets.

 _Hehe, get it? Crappy?_ Damn, _I should be a comedian._

She smirked at her own horrible joke, jamming her hand into the plastic to grab a container at the very bottom. She pulled it own, examining the cirucualer container that went along with a paint brush. She frowned once she read the label, " _Nontoxic gray face paint."_

"Is that lubricant?" Lapis asked with a grin behind Peridot's shoulder. The blonde teenager groaned, turning around to face her. She stuck out the black container in her face, giving a scowl.

"Does it _look_ like something I would stick up my ass?" she said, sarcastically through her teeth. Lapis looked off to the side like she was thinking about it.

Lapis shrugged and said, "If you're freaky like that."

Peridot's blush was definitely something she couldn't hide from an embarrassing response like that. She knitted her eyebrows and wrapped her fingers tightly onto the cover of the face paint container, attempting to open it. She twisted it, but nothing happened. She wiped her  sweaty hands on her slacks and twisted it again. Not a single turn. Her forearm was beginning to get strained, and her fingers were getting paler than a vampire's skin. She sighed, throwing the container onto the floor carelessly as if _that_ was going to open it. 

Lapis snorted, bending down to pick up the poor container. Peridot watched as she examined it, placing a hand on the top and twisting it.

_Pop_

With ease, Lapis managed to remove the "indestructible" cover with a simple twist. She smirked and waved the container in front of Peridot's frown.

Lapis curiously peeked at the substance inside the container. "Let me paint your face," Lapis insisted, digging through the plastic bag to retrieve the round brush.

Peridot scoffed, "Your probably just gonna draw a gigantic penis on my forehead." She pointed at the exact spot. Lapis grinned, her eyes trained on the soft brush. 

"I don't think gray would be a fitting color for a dick," Lapis joked, dabbing the brush on the paint. "Now just let me paint your face this once."

"No," Peridot said roughly. But of course, since Lapis almost never takes her seriously, she kept insisting.

 _"Pretty pleeaaase,"_ Lapis begged, bending her knees and letting her arms hang loose to seem even shorter than Peridot. 

How did Peridot end up letting Lapis spend the next 30 minutes paint her face and hands? She didn't know for sure, but she didn't regret it. But having someone so close to your face, even someone you know, is very.... _weird._ Peridot kept her eyes squeezed shut most of the time, afraid if she would open them, she would be more than embarrassed to see Lapis just inches away from her face. 

"How is it?" Lapis asked, looking at Peridot's reflection in the stained mirror. Dots and splatters of gray were painted on her hands, and nose. Lapis painted the tip of her nose on purpose. Peridot ran her fingers gently across her cheek, feeling the odd texture of the paint that thinly coated her face. It  _really_ looked as if she were made of stone. She cleared her throat and met eyes with Lapis.

"Thank you," she mumbled, doing her absolute best to sound sincere as possible. She had difficulties with these types of conversations. 

Lapis's eyes went wide, and her cheeks flushed a pretty red on her fair tan skin. 

"And...i'm sorry for being an asshole awhile ago."  _Holy shit, what am I doing? Why am I saying this?_

There was this type of silence in the bathroom that made Peridot want to jump out of a window. Her eye contact broke of from Lapis a long time ago, and now she was just left with a blur of blue in her peripheral vision. That blue neared her, growing closer to her own face. She didn't dare to move her head, so she remained frozen.

An unfamiliar softness pressed against Peridot cheek, something she almost never felt before. Her eyes were squeezed tight, and for a moment she thought she had gone blind. Her reflexes kicked in, causing her to stagger a few steps back. Her rear hit the sink, causing her to recoil. Lapis stood there, just as surprised as Peridot.

"Why...I-I don't- wha-" Peridot took a gulp in between her incomplete words, gently pressing the palm of her hand against her cheek. The spot where Lapis's pressed her lips against. 

Lapis bit her lip and rubbed the back of her neck. "The paint is dry," she said, giving a grin the Peridot found the most confusing, but most attractive in her. Lapis took a step back, her eyes still maintaining contact with the bewildered green. 

Her eyes flickered to the clock right across from the bathroom entrance. "Listen, tell Sardonyx that I already tried that thing on," she said, pointing at the unopened bag under a stall. "And...uh..don't take that kiss seriously, alright?," she added, giving that grin of hers. Lapis left the restroom without any other teases.

That left Peridot, puzzled and shocked. She ran her pale fingers through her messy hair under her flatcar as she stomped her way out of the restroom. She looked both ways to see that Lapis was already long gone. Peridot grumbled, unable to remove her hand from her cheek as she quickly paced down the hallway. She stopped.

Peridot took her phone out of her back pocket, entered her stupid password, and pressed on the voice recording app. How many files of recordings did she have in her phone, exactly? More than a detective, probably.

"Log date-ugh...whatever." Her first words were the most unlikely to come out of her know-it-all mouth. She gulped and started to speak again. This was probably going to be the most stupid one she has made so far.

"Dear future Peridot, I hate Lapis Lazuli," she said bitterly, trying to get the feelings out of her system. She quickened her pace down the hallway, ignoring all the memes stapled to the bulletin boards. All of them, even the frog one.

"I hate Lapis Lazuli!" she repeated, her mean words bounced off the walls. She was really trying her best.

"I  _hate hate hate_ Lapis Lazuli!" she was keeping her voice at a certain level of volume to avoid the janitors checking in on her.

"I hate her stupid smile! I hate her stupid face! She makes me wanna throw up my insides!" At this point she sounded like a 5 year old kid in a sandbox.

"I...." she stopped.

Across the hall, she could see the face she hated the most. Along, with the person she hated the most. Emerald's arm wrapped around Lapis's waist is certainly something Peridot wanted to keep her eyes away from to prevent blindness. A fake smile plastered onto Lapis's lips, the ones that kissed Peridot, were something unrecognizable from earlier. Peridot took a step back, swiftly and quietly making her way down the opposite hallway.

She pulled the phone up to near her lips and sighed.

"I  _like_ Lapis Lazuli."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woopsies, did I rush? XP
> 
> There's this assignment in a writing class I take where i have to write a suspenseful story. I let one of my friends read my morbid story, and now they think i'm some sadistic maniac XD.
> 
> Also got that new 2k17 tho. In my opinion, it's pretty much the same from 2k16 :/. Just new storyline and a couple other stuff.
> 
> See u next time.
> 
> -Kpala


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